The original Tiffany lamps were made by Tiffany Studios New York in the late 1800s and early 1900s. These lamps are now antiques and can cost millions of US dollars. Because original Tiffany lamps are incredibly expensive (only the super rich can afford them), and many people around the world have fallen in love with their elegance and beauty, reproduction Tiffany lamps were created. These lamps are manufactured to a quality comparable to that of original Tiffany lamps. Tiffany reproductions have given people around the world the opportunity to own and admire a classic work of art. These lamps have now become so popular that they are in a league of their own.
Tiffany reproduction lamps are exactly as described … reproductions of the original Tiffany lamps. When I talk about Tiffany lamps, this is what I mean. This article is about how to identify good quality Tiffany reproduction lamps.
Beware of imitations
There are many people exploiting the beauty of Tiffany lamps, without staying true to the construction and craftsmanship of the original Tiffany lamps; in the sense that they are not following the original techniques to build these lamps or using materials that meet the same Tiffany Studios standard. The worst of all these people are the ones who produce lamps made of plastic. And then call these lamps Tiffany lamps! I find the name of the Tiffany lamp embarrassing … plastic lamps cannot emit half as much light as good quality art glass! And one of the reasons that Louis C. Tiffany created Tiffany lamps was because he wanted the beauty of stained glass to be in the homes of all Americans, but these windows were insanely expensive, so Tiffany thought he could add exquisite stained glass windows. to his home was to transfer the art of stained glass to lamps. That is why I am writing this article. Not only to let you know about these knockoff Tiffany lamps, but also to give you the knowledge to determine which good-quality Tiffany lamp and which poor-quality lamp … so you don’t fall prey to knockoff Tiffany lamps!
Plastic lamps
The manufacture of most Tiffany reproduction lamps uses the same 100-year-old technique – welding hundreds of tiny pieces of stained glass together – as original Tiffany lamps. Poor quality Tiffany lamps are made from pieces of colored plastic glued together … or from poor quality glass.
There are many people who produce and sell plastic Tiffany lamps. In my opinion, and I’m sure other Tiffany lamp owners and collectors will agree, they are of inferior quality. Therefore, when you go to buy a Tiffany lamp, you must make sure that the materials used are of high quality (both base and shade). The glass should be good quality art glass … not plastic. Don’t be fooled by these cheap faux plastic lamps as some of the sellers of these lamps are trying to pass them off as good quality Tiffany lamps. Poor quality Tiffany lamps are much cheaper than authentic Tiffany reproduction lamps.
How Tiffany Lamps Are Made … A Brief Overview
In order for you to identify a good Tiffany lamp from a bad one, you must have knowledge of how Tiffany lamps are made. All decent Tiffany lamps are not made with machinery, but rather handcrafted works of art. A Tiffany lampshade is constructed from pieces of hand-cut, polished, and molded art stained glass. Once all the pieces are cut, a copper foil is wrapped around each individual piece (can you imagine how long a shadow made of 1000 pieces would take?). These copper-wrapped glass pieces are then soldered together with lead.
A bit important!
I must emphasize here, that when you look at a Tiffany shade closely, you can see some bubbles, seeds (small bubbles) or lines in the stained glass. Don’t be alarmed by this! These are not defects. They are characteristics of the lamp and add character to the lamp … they simply reflect the nature and beauty of real art stained glass!
One of the great and unique characteristics of a Tiffany lamp is that no two Tiffany lamps are identical. Why? Because the glass in these lamps is not ordinary glass … it is high quality hand-laminated art glass, and only the best pieces of glass, with the right shades and texture, are used for the Tiffany lampshade. This … combined with the characteristic qualities of seeds and lines, means that there is infinite and subtle variation of any Tiffany lamp of the same shade, size and theme. No wonder Tiffany lamps are so special and a truly unique lamp!
How to Identify Good Quality Glass
Good Tiffany lamps are made of colorful, richly colored glass. These Tiffany lamps are vibrant decorative art pieces that would catch the corner of your eye, even in a room lit by bright summer light filtering through the window pane. This is true even if the lamp is not even on! This shows the quality and intensity of the colors in a good quality lamp. Poor quality Tiffany lamp glass will be the opposite, the color of the glass will fade, the lampshade will look dull and flat. This lamp would not stop shining in a sunlit room on a hot summer day.
A good quality foundation
Good high-end Tiffany lamps use bronze bases … while lower-quality Tiffany lamps are not made of such high-quality material, but instead have bronze-finished bases made of zinc alloy. Try to stay away from this guy! Another type of base that is of good quality is a base made of mahogany. A good quality foundation will last you for years … and your grandchildren too!
The price
The price range for good quality Tiffany lamps varies. The more intricate the lamp design, the higher the price … due to the amount of effort a glass lamp artist must put into implementing an intricate design, compared to a simpler one. Too. The more panels and colors a Tiffany lamp has, the more expensive it will be.
The good … the bad … and the plain old, ugly!
Here’s a quick overview of what to look for in a good and bad Tiffany lamp.
The glass
Bad lamps
o Use low-quality glass that has a rough appearance and lacks gloss.
o They need a good light bulb to illuminate the artistic patterns
o The colors are not well organized in these lamps.
o The inconsistent nature of low-end glass makes it difficult to find exact color variations
Good lamps
o Use high-quality stained glass.
o They glow even when the bulb is not on
o You can see the patterns clearly all over the
o The texture of art glass is smooth.
o Colors are vibrant and well balanced, bringing your themes to life.
Ugly lamps
o Have plastic as a substitute for glass. (Sorry … I don’t want to offend anyone here, but in my opinion, these lamps should never be produced!)
The welder
Bad lamps
o The weld is inconsistent
o The solder is thick in some places and thin in other places … indication of a poor craftsman ship
Good lamps
or finely drawn
o Uniform and well polished
o Firm and generally plump
o Support the glass artwork and hold the curtains firmly
In summary:
Good Tiffany-style lamps have smooth, even solder lines that separate the glass pieces. Bad Tiffany lamps have rough and uneven weld lines; if you’re not careful … the weld lines can even cut your fingers!
Is a fruit lamp a Tiffany lamp?
To put it bluntly … fruit lamps called Tiffany lamps are a huge insult to the late Louise C. Tiffany and anyone in the Tiffany lamp business. Not every stained glass lamp you see is a Tiffany lamp, and a fruit lamp is one of them. So why, you might be thinking, a fruit lamp is not a Tiffany lamp? Well, you’re in luck. Once you are done reading this, you will know exactly how to identify what is a Tiffany lamp and what is NOT a Tiffany lamp.
Some of the main differences between Tiffany lamps and fruit lamps are:
o A single Tiffany lamp can have between 300-2000 pieces of glass, while a fruit lamp can have around 100.
o Tiffany lamps are made of good quality art glass, which means they have rich and deep colors, the glass offers a three-dimensional effect … bringing the glass shade theme to life. Whereas a fruit lamp looks flat and two-dimensional. It looks dull and dreary. There is no life for the fruit in these lampshades – The glass used in these fruit lamps does not add any beauty to the lamps at all. These fruit lamps are not fancy like a Tiffany lamp. They are crude and gloomy.
o Tiffany lamps are very expensive … they can range from a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars, while fruit lamps are inexpensive and can be purchased almost anywhere.
Then. Hopefully now you won’t be fooled by cheap stained glass lamps that are rendered as Tiffany lamps. If there is a way you want to add a touch of beauty to your home … then you can’t go wrong with an exquisite Tiffany lamp. It will stand the test of time for generations to come.