Tiffany lamps are lamps originally created by American artist Louis Comfort Tiffany who was the son of the founder of the famous jewelry store Tiffany & Co.. He was a lover of beauty and he decided to bring the beauty of stained glass into American homes by making stained glass lamps. He developed an new method of creating stained glass which became known as the copper-foil technique. His modus operandi was to put colors and hues in glass that hadn’t been seen before. Thus Tiffany produced unique, one-off stained-glass lamp shades with elaborate bronze bases. Whilst there is a wide range of variety in lamps and shades, the history of the Tiffany lamps gives it quite a uniqueness. There are a variety of different types of Tiffany lamp shades.

Tiffany dragonfly lamp
Originally uploaded by moonlightbulb

Geometric Glass lamp shades
These are leaded lamp shades with simple designs. They are simple shapes such as squares, rectangles and ovals. They are made from poured glass, that are cut into segments and edged with copper foil.

Floral Design lamp shades
These lamp shades are a mixture of geometric and floral designs and are globe shaped. Two types of floral shades exist. The scattered leaf pattern with a geometric pattern background and a geometric background with a border of flowers.

Cone Shaped lamp shades
Cone shaped shades use wide-ranging floral patterns. They have straight sides with circular rims. The dragonfly design has a cone shaped shade and are very expensive.
Globe Shaped lamp shades
These shades come with greater detail than cone shaped shades and are thus harder to build. They are a top choice for larger floor lamps.

Irregular Lower Border lamp shades
These shades come with a greater degree of natural form. They have graceful, meandering rims. Their lower border is a irregular shape.

Irregular Upper & Lower lamp shades
These lamp shades represent the most sophisticated and complicated shades. They have any lamps. upper and lower borders. The upper region has a crown that looks like tree branches. The Tiffany "Wisteria" lamp shade is an example of this type of shade and is one of the most valued of all Tiffany lamps.

When buying a Tiffany lamp you need to ask yourself what is the reason I am buying such a lamp. Is it for lighting? Is it for beauty? Is it to bring a timeless classic into my home as a feature piece? Is it to make a statement at my business? You also need to consider the cleaning methods that you will employ on your Tiffany lamp. Once you have answered these fundamental questions your decision will be a lot easier to make.