Dragonflies of Glass: The Story of Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany Girls

Summary

From award-winning kids’ nonfiction author Susan Goldman Rubin, and radiantly illustrated by SusannaChapman, the picture book Dragonflies of Glass celebrates the innovation, determination, and ambition of thebrilliant woman artist behind the world-famous Tiffany glassIn the mid-nineteenth century, most women who weren’t raising families became teachers or nurses. But ClaraDriscoll longed to be an artist, drawing inspiration from nature: from every flower, weed, dragonfly, and evencobweb, on her family’s farm.In 1888, Clara was hired at the renowned Tiffany Glass Company, where Mr. Louis Comfort Tiffany was knownfor creating gorgeous stained-glass windows for churches, theaters, and libraries. Impressed by her talent atchoosing and cutting glass, Mr. Tiffany eventually put Clara in charge of her own staff of 35 women designers.These “Tiffany Girls” sketched intricate patterns, chose dazzling colors and precise shapes, and carefullysoldered and placed each piece of glass to create stunning lamps, murals, windows, vases, and clocks. Yettheir names weren’t always credited on the finished pieces, and when Clara designed the “Wisteria” lamp thatwould become Tiffany Studios’ most famous, everyone assumed that Mr. Tiffany had designed it.Today, Clara Driscoll‘s work lives on in museums, galleries, and private collections around the world. Dragonfliesof Glass celebrates the innovation, determination, and ambition of the unsung women behind many of TiffanyStudios’ masterpieces.Includes a list of places where Driscoll’s Tiffany art can be found; examples of Driscoll’s Tiffany lamps andarchival photographs; endnotes; and a bibliography.