In a 1904 letter, Tiffany designer Clara Driscoll described the steps in making a lampshade: "If there are to be many shades made these patterns have to be made in brass. Each pattern has a number on it so that it will be easy to find the place. The patterns are all laid out on a flat piece of glass that the design has been traced on in black paint and this piece of glass with the patterns on it put in one of the windows against the light-and the right glass selected and cut for each pattern and then stuck on the big piece of glass in place of its patterns. When the shade is all cut it is sent to the factory (on its piece of glass)." The Dragonfly shade made with these patterns was probably designed by Clara Driscoll between 1900 and 1906.

Full-scale design drawings, known as cartoons, delineated the placement of each piece of glass and were an important step in the process of making a Tiffany shade. This drawing represents Tiffany Studios' 22" Dragonfly shade, designed by Clara Driscoll between 1900 and 1906.

Once the glass for a Tiffany lampshade was selected, cut, and wrapped with copper foil, the pieces were assembled on wooden blocks such as this one. Made for the Arrowhead model, this block is one of several preserved by John Dikeman (1882-1967), who began working in Tiffany's lamp department at the turn of the century and later headed that division before its disbanding in the 1920s. The Arrowhead model was designed by Clara Driscoll around 1904 and its production was discontinued by 1910.

This panel is one of five which originally comprised "Good Shepherd with Landscape," made before 1910 for a chapel at the Stony Wold Sanatorium in Lake Kushaqua, New York. The two right-most panels are at the Historical Society, and the three on the left belong to the Neustadt Collection of Tiffany Glass.

Because of the popularity of Tiffany's dragonfly lamps, reproductions of this design are common.

This dragonfly shade, a popular model, was priced at $175 in Tiffany's 1906 price list. Prices ranged from $3 for small candleshades to $400 for large and intricate lamps. Considering that the average hourly wage in 1906 was only 17 1/2 cents, these lamps were an unattainable luxury for many.

This dragonfly shade, a popular model, was priced at $175 in Tiffany's 1906 price list. Prices ranged from $3 for small candleshades to $400 for large and intricate lamps. Considering that the average hourly wage in 1906 was only 17 1/2 cents, these lamps were an unattainable luxury for many.

Now sought after by collectors, Tiffany's magnolia shades are distinguished by the use of a ridged, highly textured glass called "drapery glass," which Tiffany usually restricted to his windows. The drapery glass conveys the fleshy texture of magnolia blossoms and gives the shade a rich surface quality.