A New Light on Tiffany: Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany Girls

by Martin Eidelberg, Nina Gray, Margaret K. Hofer

Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933) is celebrated today as one of the most influential creative designers of the late 19th- and early 20th-centuries. A New Light on Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany Girls presents the celebrated works of Tiffany Studios in an entirely new context, focusing on the "Tiffany Girls", the 27 women who laboured behind the scenes to create the masterpieces now inextricably linked to the Tiffany name.

Recently discovered correspondence written by Ohio-born Clara Driscoll, head of the so-called "Women's Glass Cutting Department" at Tiffany Studios, reveals in convincing and vivid detail how it was in fact Driscoll who generated designs for such masterpieces as the famous Wisteria, Dragonfly and Peony goods. At the heart of the book are over 50 Tiffany lamps, windows, ceramics, enamels and mosaics, supplemented by a wide array of related documents and archival photographs.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, New York

200 pages, Hardcover

First published July 25, 2007

About the author

Martin Eidelberg is professor emeritus of art history at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ.

Reviews

[Amy]

Very interesting! This nonfiction book is about Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany Girls who helped design and produce the Tiffany Lamps back at the turn of the last century.

This nonfiction book serves as a great companion to Susan Vreeland's work of historical fiction, "Clara and Mr. Tiffany".

I love the pictures, especially those of the lamps that Driscoll was thought to have probably designed!

[Beverly]

I read this because I had just read Clara and Mr. Tiffany and wanted to know what was real and what was not. Since the same authors were involved, the information is much the same. The differences were the closer views of the individual girls, the greater explanations and the gorgeous pictures. Well researched although many of the same sources were used, including the recently fund letters from Clara Driscoll to her family.

[Sophie]

Extremely readable biography of Clara Driscoll who worked for the Tiffany Studio as director of the Women's Glass Cutting Department for 20 years until 1909. Little was known about her until about 10 years ago when her letters to her mother and sisters came to light, and it became evident that she designed some of the most famous Tiffany lamps such as the wisteria and dragonfly lamps. By all accounts she was a lively and capable woman with a love of nature who looked after the "girls" in her department and got along well with Mr Tiffany, whom she admired. The book details her working methods and as much about her work at Tiffany as can be gleaned from her letters (unfortunately all records from the Tiffany Studio were lost after its closure in 1930) but also shows the reader what life was like in New York at the turn of the century for an unmarried, educated and artistic woman like Clara who had an active cultural and social life. The coffee-table book format allows for stunning full-page photographs of many of the lamps designed by Clara, which allow the reader to study more closely the lamps and other items as they are described.

[Elizabeth]

If you enjoyed the fictional "Clara and Mr. Tiffany" as much as I did, this makes for a stunning visual accompaniment. In this non-fiction book you will see the photos of Clara and the lamps and the windows and learn so much more about the women of Tiffany studios!

[Amy]

How I'd like to jump in a time machine and go back in time to experience New York at the turn of the century, as one of the "Tiffany girls". What an amazing experience it must have been working in Tiffany Studios. Heck, I wish I could've went to the exhibition that was inspired by (along with this book) the discovery of the Clara Driscoll corresepondence. As it turns out, neither will happen for me, so I am somewhat mollified by having had the pleasure of the next best thing, which was reading this book. It was a visual treat and made my feminist heart happy to know women were finally getting acknowledgment for the crucial role they played in the design and manufacture of Tiffany objects.

[Debbie]

This was so much better than that piece of dreck -Clara and Mr. Tiffany. Clara's story is worth knowing and if anyone is interested in her story- read this and only this. Beautiful photographs as well.

[Samm]

I ❤️ Clara Driscoll

[Stormy]

I had to get this back to the library, so now this is on my Christmas wish list, if I can find a link for Shane. :)

[Nicole]

I received this book several years ago as a gift but picked it up again to re-read in conjunction with the novel Clara and Mr. Tiffany. I'm so glad I did! To provide a bit of back story, Clara Driscoll was a glass artist working primarily in stained glass and mosaic design. She's thought to be the innovator responsible for the genesis of Tiffany's famed lamps and she eventually came to run the women's studio at Tiffany's. A New Light focuses on Clara's newly discovered correspondence, which offered quite a bit of detail related to the inner working of the women's department at Tiffany Studios around 1900. Before the letters were found, there were huge holes in the history of that production group, especially concerning who designed what and when and who the women workers actually were. Clara's letters filled in enough blanks to get a real sense of the people, place, and times. A New Light also explains the soup to nuts process of creating mosaics and stained glass which I found entirely fascinating. Finally, the photographs...! The book contains amazing pics of so much Tiffany history. I especially loved the photos of Clara's iconic lamps and historical black and white photographs of the women at work and play. I'm so glad I remembered I had this book to read along with the novel! PS: While not as large as other museum's collections of Tiffany glass, the VMFA in Richmond has an awesome display of Tiffany lamps. I can't wait to go back again now....

[Diane]

Very interesting story about Clara Driscoll who was a designer for Tiffany at the turn of the 19th century. Indeed she managed a whole workshop for the company. Tiffany didn't really give credit to any of his designers as he wanted people to think all the work came from him. But his company took women workers seriously. Many earned the same as men in similar positions. He stood up for women workers when the all male glass cutters union wanted to force them out. Ultimately a really well researched story about an independent capable ambitious woman working in a design factory at Tiffany's and the fact that she more than held her own.

[Melissa]

Beautiful Book! Great story! I had to have it after reading "Clara and Mr Tiffany" by Susan Vreeland. Now I can read the true story and see the real people and their art!! I will enjoy this book forever!

[Susan Pola Staples]

review later

[Jeanne]

Great companion piece to Susan Vreeland’s “Clara and Mr Tiffany.” Gave a lot of insight into the book, as well as providing beautiful pictures of Tiffany creations.

[Jennifer Henshaw]

Very interesting and educational - loved learning about the process of making Tiffany lamps and about life in New York in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

[Stephanie]

A beautifully illustrated book that is the true story behind the novel, "Clara and Mr. Tiffany." It includes not only photos of Tiffany lamps and other products, but also of Clara and her fellow workers and scenes in New York in the late 1890's and early 1900's.

[Horace Mann Family Reading Challenge]

R.M.

[Marilyn]

I would have given this book one more star if there had been more color pictures of the famous Tiffany lamps.

[Lidja]

Beautiful pictures, good documentation and research.

[Holly Geist]

Beautiful book, lives on my coffee table.

[Karen]

So enjoyed learning more about this fantastic woman.

[Leslie Fisher]

There was a lot of good information in this book, and the color photographs are amazing.