A Chronology of Louis C. Tiffany and Tiffany Studios
Louis Tiffany at the age of 23
Dignity in Servitude, one of six watercolors by Tiffany displayed at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition
Leaded glass screen in the White House
Interior of the H.O. Havemeyer mansion
The medals awarded to the Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company at the 1893 Columbian Exposition
Tiffany's booth at the 1900 Paris Exposition
Laurelton Hall
Mosaic curtain in the National Theater, Mexico City
Tiffany Studios showroom, Madison Avenue and 45th Street, New York City, ca. 1910
Louis Comfort Tiffany, ca. 1925
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1848
Louis Comfort Tiffany is born in New York City to Charles and Harriet Tiffany on February 18 1863-64 Tiffany attends Eagleswood Military Academy in Perth Amboy, NJ 1865 Tiffany leaves school to study under painter George Inness 1865-66 Tiffany makes his first trip to Europe, traveling to England, Ireland, France and Italy 1866 Tiffany admitted to antique classes at the National Academy of Design and befriends Samuel Colman, a painting instructor in the Academy 1868-69 Tiffany travels to Paris to study painting with Leon-Charles Bailly. Returns to New York City and lives in the YMCA across the street from the National Academy of Design 1870 Tiffany, together with the artist Robert Swain Gifford, travels to London, Paris, Madrid, Malaga, Gibraltar, Tangier, Malta, Sicily, Naples, Amalfi, Sorrento, Alexandria, Cairo, Tunisia, Algeria, Rome and Florence 1871 Tiffany elected an Associate of the National Academy of Design 1872 Tiffany marries Mary Woodbridge Goddard 1873 Tiffany’s first child, Mary (May-May) Woodbridge Tiffany is born 1875 Tiffany experiments with glassmaking at Thill’s Empire State Flint Glass Works in Brooklyn 1876 Tiffany exhibits three oil paintings and six watercolors in the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition 1877 Samuel Colman persuades Tiffany to teach at the Society of Decorative Arts along with Candace Wheeler and Lockwood de Forest 1878 Tiffany moves from the YMCA to the Bella Apartments Louis C. Tiffany and Company is formed and opens its first glasshouse, which burns down shortly thereafter 1880 Tiffany continues his glass experiments at the Heidt Glass Furnace in Brooklyn 1881 The interior decorating firm of Louis C. Tiffany and Company, Associated Artists is established and receives national acclaim for its work in the Seventh Regiment Armory, New York City 1882 The Associated Artists commissioned to do work for Mark Twain, Cornelius Vanderbilt II and Ogden Goelet and hired by President Chester Arthur to decorate several rooms in the White House 1883 The firm of Louis C. Tiffany and Company, Associated Artists is dissolved and Tiffany continues the business as Louis C. Tiffany and Company 1884 Tiffany’s wife, Mary Woodbridge Goddard Tiffany, dies 1885 Tiffany and family move from the Bella Apartments to his father’s new mansion on the corner of Madison Avenue and 72nd Street 1886 Tiffany marries Louise Wakeman Knox 1887 The Tiffany Glass Company is established with showrooms and workrooms at 333-335 4th Avenue, New York City 1889 Tiffany travels to Paris and visits Emile Gallé’s glass factory in Nancy 1892 Tiffany is commissioned to decorate the Henry O. Havemeyer mansion in New York City The Tiffany Glass Company is reestablished as the Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company. Tiffany and Arthur J. Nash purchase a building in Corona, Queens and convert it into a glasshouse to produce flat and blown Favrile glass 1893 The glasshouse is separated from the company and called the Stourbridge Glass Company, with Nash as its surpervisor The Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company is awarded fifty-four medals for its display at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago The uninsured glasshouse is destroyed by fire. It is quickly rebuilt with funding from new partners and Charles Tiffany 1894 Siegfried Bing, owner of the Paris gallery L’Art Nouveau, visits the Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company and later becomes Tiffany’s exclusive distributor in Europe Blown Favrile glass first displayed to the public Tiffany registers “Favrile” as a trademark with the U.S. patent office 1897 Tiffany organizes foundry and metal shops at the Corona factory 1899 Major exhibition of Tiffany's work organized by Bing and displayed at the Grafton Galleries, London 1900 Tiffany exhibits Favrile glass, windows, lamps, mosaics and enamels at the Paris Exposition Universelle, where he is awarded a grand prize for applied arts and is appointed a Chevalier in the Legion of Honor 1901 Tiffany wins a grand prize at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York and also wins prizes at expositions in Dresden and Saint Petersburg 1902 Charles Tiffany dies and leaves his son about $5 million and a controlling interest in Tiffany and Company Tiffany Studios, at 333-341 Fourth Avenue, is incorporated and the Stourbridge Glass Company is renamed Tiffany Furnaces 1903 Tiffany Studios introduces Favrile pottery 1904 Tiffany wins a gold medal at the Louisiana Purchase International Exposition and exhibits his own jewelry designs for the first time Tiffany’s second wife, Louise Wakeman Knox Tiffany, dies of cancer 1905 Tiffany and family move to his new summer estate, Laurelton Hall, in Oyster Bay, New York 1907 Tiffany is awarded a gold medal at the Jamestown Exposition in Virginia 1909 Tiffany wins a grand prize for his exhibition in the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in Seattle 1911 Tiffany Studios creates a glass mosaic curtain for the National Theater, Mexico City 1913 Tiffany hosts his Egyptian Fete for 300 guests to international acclaim 1914 The Art Work of Louis C. Tiffany, an authorized biography written by Charles DeKay, is published in an edition of 492 with another 10 copies printed on vellum and with cast-bronze clasps 1915 Tiffany is awarded a gold medal at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. The Dream Garden mosaic, designed by Maxfield Parish, is installed in the Curtis Building, Philadelphia 1916 Tiffany hosts a 68th birthday party for 300 guests that features a masque called the Quest of Beauty and a retrospective exhibition of his artwork 1919 Tiffany retires from Tiffany Studios and creates the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation to aid and train young artists with a $1 million donation 1920 Tiffany Furnaces is reorganized and A. Douglas Nash is appointed to operate the new company of Louis C. Tiffany Furnaces 1924 Louis C. Tiffany Furnaces closes and is renamed the A. Douglas Nash Company 1932 Tiffany Studios files for bankruptcy 1933 Louis Comfort Tiffany dies on January 17 after a 10-day bout with pneumonia |