Why Gen Z Is Suddenly Getting Tattoos of Tiffany Lamps
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In the eclectic and ever-evolving landscape of Gen Z’s cultural fixations, a vintage icon has resurfaced with a modern twist—the Tiffany lamp.
Imagine the scene: Buzzing needles and the scent of antiseptic mark the atmosphere as tattoo artist Hayley Quinn shades and fills individual panes of stained glass—red, green, blue, orange, then purple—on the lampshade of a Tiffany-style design that’s the height of her client’s calf. Whether the recipient realizes it or not, their fresh ink is an homage to an antique that has transcended its origins to become a status symbol.
“I probably get around five lamp tattoo requests a month,” says Los Angeles-based artist Beth Mintzer, who has has inked so many she’s dubbed her business Lamp Lady Tattoos. “I do a couple of lamp tattoos per year,” adds Wisconsin artist Audra Grosz.
Grosz, 37, and Quinn, 30, concur that Tiffany lamp lovers are a niche cohort in their 20s and 30s. Which begs the question: How have these antiques managed to capture the hearts of a generation so far removed from their inception?
Sales of the genuine article have made headlines over the years. In 2018, Christie’s auctioned off a rare Pond Lily table lamp that broke the record for the most expensive work by Tiffany ever sold, earning $3.37 million. More recently, inventive iterations on the glassmaking style, patented by Louis Comfort Tiffany in 1889, have permeated the world of high design. Earlier this month, the Future Perfect’s New York locale held an exhibition of new work by Miami-based artist Autumn Casey, which the gallery described as “an inventive elaboration on the classic form of Tiffany lamps, investigating the relationship between authorship and labor.” Meanwhile, Oscar de la Renta creative directors sent what can only be described as a Tiffany lamp–inspired gown down the runway to end their fall 2024 show in New York.
However, for Gen Z, the enduring appeal has little to do with high design—or even “low-brow” design, for that matter. Millennials consider the style a hallmark of dimly lit pizza parlors and retro basement pool rooms—and today that translates to a renewed sense of sentimentality. Kate Towill of Basic Projects says stained-glass pendant lights were one of the first things she designed for the South Carolina restaurant Sullivan’s Fish Camp. “I knew right away I wanted ‘Pizza Hut’–esque lights over the bar, glowing at night and inviting you in for a cold beer and some fresh fish, or even a fruity cocktail,” the 38-year-old designer remembers. “There was a guy in North Charleston still making big stained-glass church windows by hand. I went to him with my idea, and he said he hadn’t done a pendant like this since the ’70s!”
This may be why, for those born after 1997, the Tiffany lamp hits different. A cursory TikTok search reveals heaps of #Tiffanylamp chatter, including real-time authenticity checks from dingy thrift store corners and creators who claim that Tiffany lamps are the key to their heart. In February, 20-year-old student Imogen Kate McCready uploaded a video featuring an image of Dr. Egon Neustadt, a legendary collector of Tiffany glass, at home among his wares. “I actually didn't know who the man in the photo was when I uploaded the post!” McCready admits.
With more than 3 million views and 550,000 likes, the video’s 1,300 comments provide insight into the obsession. “The most common comment that I received was people saying how their grandparents or distant relatives have Tiffany lamps or that they grew up around them,” McCready synthesizes. “A lot of them have Tiffany lamps that have been passed down, or they hope to receive ones that are still in the family one day.”
With Rago’s upcoming lighting auction estimating $120,000 for a Tiffany Studios lamp, there is an inherently privileged subtext to this comments section. (Of course, the provenance of these commenters’ lamps are not verified.) But there’s also an overwhelming wistfulness among the commenters for their lamps’ original owners.
Back at their respective tattoo parlors, the artists confirm that the trend is all about nostalgia. “Tiffany lamps are my mom’s favorite, and I’ve always been drawn to them for that reason,” Grosz’s client, Amy Wick, tells ELLE DECOR. “I even have one myself on my arm for my late mother, who collected them and worked in an antique emporium most of my childhood,” Grosz shares.
Quinn says the tattoos allow her clients to take the design that means so much to them wherever they go. And in an economy that makes home ownership feel like a pipe dream—never mind ownership of a handcrafted antique lamp—this new form of ownership makes sense. “Anyone can have their very own Tiffany lamp, the same way our mothers and grandmothers did,” Quinn concludes. She signs off her email with, “I am typing these responses at my desk next to my own Tiffany lamp.”
Whether it’s illuminating the corners of a family home or casting a colorful glow on youthful skin, the Tiffany lamp continues to shine brightly, proving that some things truly never go out of style—no matter how or where you choose to display them.
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