The Fancy Goods Department: Commercial Success and Clara Driscoll's Profit Engine

The Fancy Goods Department, sometimes also referred to as the "Fancy Goods and Lamps" department, was the specialized branch within Tiffany Studios responsible for the design and production of reproducible luxury household items. The product range included lampshades, lamp bases, and smaller bronze household articles, such as inkwells and candlesticks.

Leadership and Commercial Success

The department was led by Clara Driscoll, the head of the Women’s Glass Cutting Department, whose department was responsible for cutting and designing the glass components. The Fancy Goods Department was commercially essential and functioned as a major profit generator for Tiffany's entire enterprise.

• The objects were produced in a constant stream for sale in showrooms and department stores.
• Due to the wide product range (from lampshades to paperweights), the department offered consumers from nearly every economic tier access to the Tiffany aesthetic.
• Driscoll's talent lay in realizing a large profit from lampshades and fancy goods.

The Paradox: Art versus Cost Control

The necessity for profitability limited Driscoll's artistic freedom. She wrote that at "every step she had to consider the production costs." This stood in sharp contrast to designers in departments such as those for enamel and pottery, who, according to Driscoll, only had to consider the "question of beauty"—departments she mockingly called "Little Arcadia."

Despite the commercial pressure, many of Driscoll's designs from this department have proven to be iconic and valuable, including the Dragonfly, Wisteria, and Poppy lamps.