Dr. Egon Neustadt and his wife Hildegard began their collection of Tiffany objects in 1935 with the purchase of a Tiffany desk lamp in New York City. At this time Tiffany's lavish designs had fallen out of public favor and Dr. Neustadt noted that when they brought the lamp home and placed it on his desk, "Our friends didn't like it." Undaunted, Dr. Neustadt's interest in Tiffany shades and bases became all-consuming and he became one of the earliest serious collectors of Tiffany lamps.

He assembled an encyclopedic collection which included desk, reading, library, and floor lamps as well as hanging shades and chandeliers. Dr. Neustadt also added leaded-glass windows and bronze desk sets to his collection. In 1967, he acquired some 500 crates of sheet and pressed glass made and used by the Tiffany Studios which were left over after the company went bankrupt in the 1930s.

In 1970, Dr. Neustadt published his collection in a book, The Lamps of Tiffany. In it he classified the different types of lamps and developed a nomenclature to describe the various categories of lamp designs.

In 1983 Dr. Neustadt gave 135 lamps to The New-York Historical Society. When he died the following year, his Manhattan apartment contained hundreds of Tiffany lamps and windows. This private treasure has become the core of The Neustadt Collection of Tiffany Glass.