In 1885, Tiffany established his own firm and while he continued to undertake decorating commissions, his focus was on new methods of glass manufacture. Four years earlier he registered a patent for opalescent window glass, a radical new treatment whereby several colors were combined and manipulated to create an unprecedented range of hues and three-dimensional effects. Tiffany believed that this new material allowed more fidelity to the inherent nature of the medium, because it enabled form to be defined by the glass itself rather than by painting onto the glass. Opalescent glass, however, was firmly rejected by the other important school of the stained glass revival, which advocated the Gothic tradition of painting with enamel on clear, uniformly colored “antique” glass.



The passionate moral dimension of late 19th-century taste is clearly seen in Boston glassmaker Charles Connick’s declaration that his firm’s greatest contribution to stained glass was “rescuing it from the abysmal depth of opalescent picture windows.” Those, like Connick, who followed the medieval precedent of painting on clear glass, were in bitter opposition to Tiffany and to John La Farge, the artist who had developed opalescent glass about the same time as Tiffany, and was his chief competitor.



Both schools thought that they alone were being "truthful," an ideal central to the philosophy of the Arts and Crafts movement. Equally important was the goal of design unity. First manifested in his efforts to create complete interiors, Tiffany’s commitment to unity was extended to the design and manufacture of stained glass. The leading necessary to hold the pieces of glass together became a fully integrated design element, simulating, for example, the stems of plants. Tiffany was convinced the actual production of a stained-glass window required the artist’s involvement at every stage, even in a factory setting—from creating the first sketches to overseeing how the glass was selected, cut, and assembled.



Inspired By Nature
Tiffany’s aesthetic was based on his conviction that nature should be the primary source of design inspiration. Intoxicated by color, he translated into glass the lush palette found in flowers and plants. This fascination with nature and with extending the capabilities of the medium led to the exploration of another technique—in 1893 Tiffany introduced his first blown-glass vases and bowls, called “Favrile.” The name, he declared, was taken from an old English word for hand made. Favrile glass quickly gained international renown for its surface iridescence and brilliant colors.



International Acclaim

Tiffany was among the first American designers to be acclaimed abroad. Favrile glass, together with stained-glass windows such as the Four Seasons, was shown at world’s fairs and sold in galleries like Siegfried Bing’s L’Art Nouveau, which served as a conduit for the most innovative design at the turn of the century.