Tiffany Stained Glass Windows

Through his artistic innovation and marketing savvy, Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848 – 1933) revolutionized and dominated the stained glass business in the United States throughout the late-19th and early-20th centuries. Tiffany`s windows were desired by churches across the country.

His stained glass window called 'The Holy City', located at Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church in Baltimore, Maryland, consists of 58 panels. It is said to be one of the largest ever made by Tiffany Studios. Tiffany`s business produced thousands of windows around the United States in its 50-year span. The majority of these windows are religious, used by all denominations.

His company made four different types of windows: landscape, ecclesiastical, floral and ornamental. His landscape window design was rare but is considered to be his ultimate achievement in stained glass. For the religious figures of his windows, Tiffany uncharacteristically used the glass painting method for painting faces, hands and feet as it had become somewhat of a standard in stained glass figures.

At their height, Tiffany windows were a symbol of prestige and typically very costly. A 3 x 5 foot window typically sold for around $700.00 while the artisans were paid a mere $3.00 per day. In the first decade of the twentieth century, stained glass window production peaked. This, ironically, coincided with Tiffany`s downswing as artistic tastes became more academic. Since Tiffany refused to change his style, his work became increasingly disfavored, leading to bankruptcy in 1931. Fortunately, a revival of interest in his windows surfaced in the mid-twentieth-century and we can see many beautiful works by the once-again great Tiffany Studios.