The Met Traces Tiffany’s Decorative Arts Back to the Drawing Board

Designing the Gilded Age: Drawings from the Studios of Louis C. Tiffany will open at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on 22 October 2026. Running until 7 February 2027 in Galleries 691–693, the exhibition brings together nearly 120 works from the museum’s collection and selected loans.

Reference gallery: these ten photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art show nine finished Tiffany works, including one lamp photographed both assembled and with its shade removed. They support the discussion of glass, structure, light and collaborative making. They are comparative collection examples, not photographs of The Met’s forthcoming exhibition, confirmed loans to it, or reproductions of its preparatory drawings. Qualified designer attributions are retained.

Comparative cover: Tiffany Studios (maker). Oriental Poppy Table Lamp, c. 1902–10. Cleveland Museum of Art, 2018.262. Bequest of Charles Maurer. CC0 1.0. Museum record · CC0 1.0

The project places design drawings alongside stained glass and other decorative works. Among the announced loans is Woman in a Pergola with Wisteria from the Chrysler Museum of Art, reunited with its original wisteria transoms. The Met’s announcement, published on 28 July, emphasizes the studio’s collaborative creative process and the conservation of its drawings.

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  Overall view. Hinds House Window. The window brings colour into an architectural opening. Cleveland records layered glass as part of its construction. Tiffany Glass & Decorating Company (maker). Hinds House Window, c. 1900. Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.432. Gift of Mrs. Robert M. Fallon. CC0 1.0.

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  Overall view. Vase. This Favrile vase offers a different material comparison: an iridescent surface without the window’s network of leaded joins. Louis Comfort Tiffany (designer); Tiffany Studios (maker). Vase, c. 1905–10. Cleveland Museum of Art, 1997.260. Gift of Henry H. Hawley. CC0 1.0.

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  Overall view. Turtleback Reading Lamp. The compact reading lamp connects glass to a bronze support and the practical direction of light. Tiffany Glass & Decorating Company (artist). Turtleback Reading Lamp, c. 1895–1902. Cleveland Museum of Art, 2018.287. Bequest of Charles Maurer. CC0 1.0.

1. Overall view. The window brings colour into an architectural opening. Cleveland records layered glass as part of its construction. Tiffany Glass & Decorating Company (maker). Hinds House Window, c. 1900. Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.432. Gift of Mrs. Robert M. Fallon. CC0 1.0. Museum record · CC0 1.0

2. Overall view. This Favrile vase offers a different material comparison: an iridescent surface without the window’s network of leaded joins. Louis Comfort Tiffany (designer); Tiffany Studios (maker). Vase, c. 1905–10. Cleveland Museum of Art, 1997.260. Gift of Henry H. Hawley. CC0 1.0. Museum record · CC0 1.0

3. Overall view. The compact reading lamp connects glass to a bronze support and the practical direction of light. Tiffany Glass & Decorating Company (artist). Turtleback Reading Lamp, c. 1895–1902. Cleveland Museum of Art, 2018.287. Bequest of Charles Maurer. CC0 1.0. Museum record · CC0 1.0

The pairing of a drawing and a finished object can reveal a design problem with unusual clarity. On paper, an idea may be held through line, colour and annotation. In another material, it must work through thickness, joins, light and the conditions of use. The two versions are related, but they do not offer the same experience.

A visitor can therefore look for both continuity and adjustment. Which relationships remain recognizable across the translation? Where does a material introduce a possibility that a drawing can only suggest? The purpose is not to treat the preparatory sheet as a lesser object or the finished work as a simple fulfilment of it. Each can show a different stage of judgement.

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  Overall view. Poppy Filigree Table Lamp. The filigree design invites a closer look at the relationship between the flower pattern, glass and supporting metal. probably by Clara Wolcott Driscoll (designer); Tiffany Studios (maker). Poppy Filigree Table Lamp, c.1902–10. Cleveland Museum of Art, 2018.275. Bequest of Charles Maurer. CC0 1.0.

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  Overall view. Peony Table Lamp. Notice how the spread of the peonies is coordinated with the broad shape of the shade. The designer attribution remains qualified in the museum record. probably by Clara Wolcott Driscoll (designer); Tiffany Studios (maker). Peony Table Lamp, c. 1902–10. Cleveland Museum of Art, 2018.260. Bequest of Charles Maurer. CC0 1.0.

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  Overall view. Bamboo Table Lamp. The bamboo motif continues across the shade and into the form of the support. Cleveland attributes the design only possibly to Clara Wolcott Driscoll. possibly by Clara Wolcott Driscoll (designer); Tiffany Studios (maker). Bamboo Table Lamp, c. 1902–10. Cleveland Museum of Art, 2018.265. Bequest of Charles Maurer. CC0 1.0.

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  Overall view. Oriental Poppy Table Lamp. Cleveland notes that standardized shades and bases could be combined. Here, the poppy shade is paired with an iris-patterned base. Tiffany Studios (maker). Oriental Poppy Table Lamp, c. 1902–10. Cleveland Museum of Art, 2018.262. Bequest of Charles Maurer. CC0 1.0.

4. Overall view. The filigree design invites a closer look at the relationship between the flower pattern, glass and supporting metal. probably by Clara Wolcott Driscoll (designer); Tiffany Studios (maker). Poppy Filigree Table Lamp, c.1902–10. Cleveland Museum of Art, 2018.275. Bequest of Charles Maurer. CC0 1.0. Museum record · CC0 1.0

5. Overall view. Notice how the spread of the peonies is coordinated with the broad shape of the shade. The designer attribution remains qualified in the museum record. probably by Clara Wolcott Driscoll (designer); Tiffany Studios (maker). Peony Table Lamp, c. 1902–10. Cleveland Museum of Art, 2018.260. Bequest of Charles Maurer. CC0 1.0. Museum record · CC0 1.0

6. Overall view. The bamboo motif continues across the shade and into the form of the support. Cleveland attributes the design only possibly to Clara Wolcott Driscoll. possibly by Clara Wolcott Driscoll (designer); Tiffany Studios (maker). Bamboo Table Lamp, c. 1902–10. Cleveland Museum of Art, 2018.265. Bequest of Charles Maurer. CC0 1.0. Museum record · CC0 1.0

7. Overall view. Cleveland notes that standardized shades and bases could be combined. Here, the poppy shade is paired with an iris-patterned base. Tiffany Studios (maker). Oriental Poppy Table Lamp, c. 1902–10. Cleveland Museum of Art, 2018.262. Bequest of Charles Maurer. CC0 1.0. Museum record · CC0 1.0

The studio framing also provides a useful corrective to the habit of assigning every decision to one celebrated name. Decorative arts often involve multiple kinds of expertise. An exhibition of designs can make those roles easier to discuss by directing attention to the hand, notation and practical problem visible in an individual sheet.

For readers drawn to interiors, glass or the history of making, this is a reason to approach familiar objects through their development. A lamp or window can be admired for its surface while also being examined as a negotiated construction. The forthcoming exhibition offers a structured setting for that double attention. Its attraction lies in the opportunity to follow an idea as it changes form, and to recognize the people and processes that allow a drawing to become something luminous and three-dimensional.

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  Overall view. Peacock Table Lamp. This lamp provides a documented example of an object accommodating different lighting systems; the following photograph shows its components. probably by Clara Wolcott Driscoll (designer); Tiffany Studios (maker). Peacock Table Lamp, c. 1902. Cleveland Museum of Art, 2018.281. Bequest of Charles Maurer. CC0 1.0.

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  Museum photograph with shade removed. Peacock Table Lamp. A second museum photograph of image 8 shows the shade set aside and the oil-lighting assembly exposed. It is the same lamp, not a separate design or a studio process photograph. probably by Clara Wolcott Driscoll (designer); Tiffany Studios (maker). Peacock Table Lamp, c. 1902. Cleveland Museum of Art, 2018.281. Bequest of Charles Maurer. CC0 1.0.

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  Overall view. Empire Table Lamp. The Empire pattern makes another design language visible, with geometric divisions and a formal gilt-bronze support. Tiffany Studios (maker). Empire Table Lamp, c. 1902–10. Cleveland Museum of Art, 2018.264. Bequest of Charles Maurer. CC0 1.0.

8. Overall view. This lamp provides a documented example of an object accommodating different lighting systems; the following photograph shows its components. probably by Clara Wolcott Driscoll (designer); Tiffany Studios (maker). Peacock Table Lamp, c. 1902. Cleveland Museum of Art, 2018.281. Bequest of Charles Maurer. CC0 1.0. Museum record · CC0 1.0

9. Museum photograph with shade removed. A second museum photograph of image 8 shows the shade set aside and the oil-lighting assembly exposed. It is the same lamp, not a separate design or a studio process photograph. probably by Clara Wolcott Driscoll (designer); Tiffany Studios (maker). Peacock Table Lamp, c. 1902. Cleveland Museum of Art, 2018.281. Bequest of Charles Maurer. CC0 1.0. Museum record · CC0 1.0

10. Overall view. The Empire pattern makes another design language visible, with geometric divisions and a formal gilt-bronze support. Tiffany Studios (maker). Empire Table Lamp, c. 1902–10. Cleveland Museum of Art, 2018.264. Bequest of Charles Maurer. CC0 1.0. Museum record · CC0 1.0

Sources

https://www.metmuseum.org/press-releases/designing-gilded-age