
Among his many achievements in the decorative arts, Louis Comfort Tiffany invented a type of glass with unprecedented opalescence that he patented under the name Favrile, derived from an Old English word meaning "handcrafted." Tiffany memorably described his Favrile glass as "distinguished by brilliant or deeply toned colors, usually iridescent like the wings of certain American butterflies, the necks of pigeons and peacocks, the wing covers of various beetles."