Clara Driscoll, the Tiffany Girls, and the Fancy Goods Department

The 2007 exhibition, A New Light on Tiffany, at the New York Historical Society, brought to the forefront of scholarship one of Tiffany Studios most prolific and relatively unknown designers, Clara Driscoll –responsible for designs such as the Dragonfly, Wisteria and Poppy lamps. The discovery of personal correspondence between Driscoll and her sisters, mother, and grandmother in Round Robin style bound volumes have revealed the day to day activities at Tiffany’s and subsequently allowed for many objects to be attributed to Driscoll, and identified other female artists working at Tiffany Studios at the time known as the "Tiffany Girls".

Born Clara Pierce Wolcott (December 15, 1861) in Tallmadge, Ohio to a middle-class family who valued education for their four daughters, Clara Wolcott opted to study art and design at a time when many opportunities in decorative arts training were becoming available to women. After studying at the Western Reserve School of Design for Women she moved to New York City in 1888 and attended the new Metropolitan Museum Art School. The MET school focused on industrial design, rather than fine art, and while there Clara focused on architectural decoration.

Clara Wolcott, later Driscoll, was employed by Tiffany’s on three separate occasions (1888-1891, 1892-1896, 1897-1908/1909). In 1892 she became the manager of the Women’s Glass Cutting Department, initially overseeing six female employees, and by 1894 there were thirty-five in her department. Before the creation of the Women’s Glass Cutting Department, women were not part of the glass selection and cutting process. Under Driscoll’s direction the “Tiffany Girls” in were responsible for glass selection, glass cutting, modeling, and designing. It seems that management at Tiffany’s believed the women’s department was better suited for floral compositions and the men for geometric designs, as women were thought to have a more acute sense of color and better disposition for aesthetically pleasing decor. Soon Driscoll and the Tiffany Girls were making objects other than windows and mosaics including leaded lamp shades (most of her department’s time was devoted to this), lamp bases, and smaller household items in bronze – inkstands, candlesticks, tea screens, boxes, paperweights, and more. These smaller objects d’art formed the basis for Tiffany’s “Fancy Goods Department”, as it was called in their marketing materials, and kept the Tiffany Girls occupied between other larger works.

Clara Driscoll left Tiffany’s for good by 1909, and married long-time friend and companion Edward Booth. After his retirement they split their time between New Jersey and Ormond Beach, Florida and Clara spent her time hand-painting silk scarves with the nature motifs she so loved during her career at Tiffany’s. Clara Driscoll Booth died on November 6, 1944 at the age of 82, after an illustrious career as one of Tiffany Studio’s most important designers.

Newly acquired by the Two Red Roses Foundation, and soon to be on display at MAACM are four bronze inkwells, designed by Clara Driscoll. These inkstands, discontinued by 1913, beautifully demonstrate Tiffany Studios’ ability to transform a standard, prosaic desk accessory into something to be treasured by its owner. Louis Tiffany, through his thoughts and actions, imbued each item produced by his staff with an artistry and sense of design rarely matched in American history.

See these and other masterworks in the soon to open exhibition Masterpieces: Extraordinary works from the Two Red Roses Foundation