Most people who give any thought to investing in “Tiffany” know there is more than one “Tiffany” brand. Many think of Tiffany & Co., which was actually started by Louis Comfort Tiffany’s father. And most people are aware that LC Tiffany had more than one enterprise.
In fact, it is complicated, and I’m going to do a great disservice to his full accomplishments by summarizing them here very quickly. Though Tiffany started as a painter and became an interior designer before moving on to stained glass, and then bronze and Favrile glass, his personal development as an artist was interwoven with a number of commercial enterprises and brands.
Below I share a graph I continue to update that summarizes Tiffany’s enterprises, his brands, when the Corona glass factory was in operation, and the tenure of some of the most important members of his team (such as Clara Driscoll – one of the most important designers of Tiffany Lamps). This should help you better understand the different brands when you shop for “Tiffany”.
For instance, there is a big difference between “Tiffany Furnaces, Inc.” products and “Louis C. Tiffany Furnaces, Inc.”, which is something you ought to know before you spend $1,000 on a “Tiffany Furnaces” piece.
In my estimation, Tiffany’s enterprise and his professional life – after the age of 30 – divides into six periods, plus a period after his death when his name was still being used.
Eight different commercial enterprises and four different brands span these seven periods. Notably the brands and the enterprises did not always perfectly coexist. It’s complicated, which is why I graphed it out. The periods as detailed on the next page are:
- The Early Years: 1878 to 1884
- A Focus on Glass: 1885 – 1892
- Height of Creativity: 1893 – 1901
- Mass Production: 1902 – 1914
- The End in Sight: 1915 – 1919
- Disengagement and Decline: 1920 – 1932
- After LCT: 1933 – 1938
I will be updating an adding to this timeline as I continue to research Louis Comfort Tiffany, his operations, and the people who worked for him.
Please let me know what you think, and if you spot any omissions I can address.