The Women Behind Tiffany's Most Celebrated Glassworks

Louis Comfort Tiffany’s eponymous Studios would not be at the pinnacle of American stained glass making without the help of a group of women known as ‘The Tiffany Girls’.

In the late 1800s, Louis Comfort Tiffany’s company hired women such as Agnes Northrop and Clara Driscoll to be part of the new Women’s Glass Cutting Department. Growing to a team of dozens, these women were responsible for carefully selecting and cutting each piece of glass, and applying the copper foil for assembly. Behind the scenes, they were the colour specialists and designers behind some of Tiffany’s most celebrated glassworks, building texture with mottled plates and capturing the kinetic energy of nature through light itself.

In 'The Boyd Family Memorial Window (The Falls)', for Second Congregational Church, Winsted, Connecticut, 1898, these artisans used their skills to capture cascading falls, swaying palm fronds and delicate blossoms to present a superb example of Tiffany's naturalistic style.