Sharalee Lewis
Clara Driscoll: The Tiffany Girl

22 x 30

Watercolor on Paper

My husband and I were in NY in 2006 and had just left the Natural History Museum when I saw a small door that was labeled as Historical Society Museum and Library. We went in and to my utter amazement we landed on a gold mine. Here in front of me was a recent discovery of the journals of Clara Driscoll where she talked about how she had designed some of Tiffany’s best-known lamps during her lunch hours and breaks. The most exquisite Tiffany lamps imaginable dimly lighted the small gallery. These jeweled lamps were side by side with the working drawings by Clara Driscoll. I knew down the road this would have to be a painting.

Walking through the gallery was like being on an archeological find of Tiffany Co. It was thought that Louis Comfort Tiffany himself designed the best of the lamps but here was evidence that it was a woman. It was Clara Driscoll along with the Tiffany girls who designed and produced many of the lamps attributed to Louis Comfort Tiffany including the famous Wisteria, Dragonfly, Peony and from all accounts, Clara Driscoll’s first, the Daffodil.


 



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Sharalee Lewis
Clara Driscoll: The Tiffany Girl

22 x 30

Watercolor on Paper

My husband and I were in NY in 2006 and had just left the Natural History Museum when I saw a small door that was labeled as Historical Society Museum and Library. We went in and to my utter amazement we landed on a gold mine. Here in front of me was a recent discovery of the journals of Clara Driscoll where she talked about how she had designed some of Tiffany’s best-known lamps during her lunch hours and breaks. The most exquisite Tiffany lamps imaginable dimly lighted the small gallery. These jeweled lamps were side by side with the working drawings by Clara Driscoll. I knew down the road this would have to be a painting.

Walking through the gallery was like being on an archeological find of Tiffany Co. It was thought that Louis Comfort Tiffany himself designed the best of the lamps but here was evidence that it was a woman. It was Clara Driscoll along with the Tiffany girls who designed and produced many of the lamps attributed to Louis Comfort Tiffany including the famous Wisteria, Dragonfly, Peony and from all accounts, Clara Driscoll’s first, the Daffodil.