World's Most Expensive Lamp

Tiffany lamps are a special kind of Art Nouveau lamp made with glass shades. Their history begins in 1895, when the first lamp was produced by the Tiffany Glass Company—later known as Tiffany Studios. They were not, however, designed by stained glass artist and company founder Louis Comfort Tiffany, as has been thought until recently. Clara Driscoll, head of the “Tiffany Girls,” was the mastermind behind the entirely handmade Tiffany lamps.

In 1997, one of those lamps became the most expensive lamp in the world.

The Tiffany ‘Lotus’ lamp, circa 1906, is made of bronze with leaded stained glass set in a mosaic pattern. The eight lotus flowers made of Tiffany’s patented favrile glass overlap to form the shade for this exquisite lamp.

While the world’s most expensive lamp originally sold for $750—almost $18,000 in modern currency—it was sold at a Christie’s auction in 1997 for an unprecedented $2.8 million.

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