Making Light Bloom: Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany Lamps

Since the arrival of the first model at the turn of the century, Tiffany lampshades have been treasured for their beauty. They are composed of geometrically shaped, colorful stained glass placed together with copper foil in the Art Nouveau style. They are so treasured that when presented at auction, sales often go over $100,000, as seen at Fontaine’s Auction Gallery’s May 31 event, where a famed Tiffany Studios Daffodil table lamp garnered over $212,000.

Credit for this innovative design is often given to designer Louis Comfort Tiffany, the founder of Tiffany Studios and son of Charles Lewis Tiffany. However, many of these iconic styles today originated not from the mind of the Tiffany heir, but rather from the skilled eye of glass designer Clara Driscoll.

In 1888, Driscoll moved to New York City from northern Ohio to work as a “Tiffany Girl,” a female glass designer employed in the Women’s Glass Cutting Department at Tiffany Studios. It was through Driscoll’s sense of innovation that the iconic Tiffany lampshade came to be, inspired by the flowers of her childhood garden. She crafted over thirty lampshade styles, such as the Wisteria, Butterfly, Poppy, and Dragonfly, which won a bronze medal at the 1900 Paris Exposition. Her hard work and talent ultimately led her to become the head of the Women’s Glass Cutting Department.

Upon retiring from Tiffany Studios in 1890, the artist’s accomplishments were forgotten until the discovery of her personal letters in 2005. In these correspondences with her sisters and mother, Driscoll discussed her time at Tiffany.
Her life story and iconic work are now recognized in Sandra Nickel's children’s book Making Light Bloom (Peachtree Publishers, 2025). With the assistance of the letters, historical research, and beautiful illustrations by Julie Paschkis, Nickel reveals Driscoll’s fascinating story to young readers.

It seems that Driscoll’s legacy is only just beginning to bloom. As more people learn about her, perhaps a Tiffany lamp will become known as a Driscoll?

Making Light Bloom by Sandra Nickel is available at peachtreebooks.com and online book retailers.

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