26" Oriental Poppy Floor Lamp, Part 1

Creating any stained glass lamp requires time, talent, concentration and commitment, but this is especially true when embarking a large shade. We recently completed a 26" Oriental Poppy Floor Lamp for a local client.

Bill Campbell spent several weeks painstakingly selecting the glass and composing the color scheme for this shade. This elaborate shade has 1332 individual pieces of glass, each of which must be carefully considered for color, texture and transparency. Bill's fine art training in painting and close to forty years of studying and creating Tiffany shades has given him a fine tuned sense for blending colors.

This generously proportioned 26" shade has 1332 individual pieces of glass. One of the three sectional repeats is shown above.

Once the shade was cut and fit, the process of wrapping the edge of each piece with copper foil began. The foiled pieces were then transferred onto the lamp form which had been coated with our special Century Studios house made wax. 

Irwin Terry then began soldering the exterior of the shade. The soldering iron tip heats the solder to eight hundred degrees. After every seam is soldered the lamp form is heated, melting the wax and allowing the shade to be removed from the form.

Large shades like this piece require the addition of copper reinforcing wires to provide the added stability that will ensure the shade stays true well into the next century. We will be showing the completed lamp in our post next weekend.

  

Studio Hours

Century Studios will be closed through Wednesday July 23. We will resume regular business hours on Thursday July 24.

 

10" Acorn

Tiffany Studios created many lamp designs with a decorative border bookmarked by upper and lower geometric tiles. One of the most successful of these patterns is the Acorn (originally called Vine Border on the Tiffany price lists). We recently completed this 10" Acorn shade, shown on the delicate Queen Anne's Lace base. The lamp's compact size and lively green glass makes this a perfect accent for any room. This lamp has been sold and is now in a private collection.

 

16" Woodbine

The 16" Woodbine is a shade that was designed to showcase exceptional glass. Also known as False Virginia Creeper, the woodbine is a climbing plant whose woody vines can reach over 65 feet in length. Like the Virginia Creeper, the leaves of the Woodbine plant change color dramatically in the autumn.

A geometric trellis covers the shade, giving this design a structure for the exuberant leaves to play across. The background glass is a green fracture/streamer glass made by the Uroborus Glass Foundry over 20 years ago. The woodbine leaves are a mix of mottled, streaky and textured glasses in autumnal tones.

The shade is shown on the tactile Mock Turtle base (21.5" tall). This shade has been sold and is now in a private collection in Omaha, Nebraska.

16" Fish

The 16" Fish is a boldly designed shade that features five Koi fish in a rhythmic dance. Created for a client in Omaha, Nebraska the shade is shown on the Lummis base (19" tall).

A lively mix of mottled, streaky and ripple textured glasses blend together, enhancing the movement of the design. Jewel-like tones of green, orange and teal give depth to the shade.

Filigree overlays are an important design element of this shade. Fins and tails on the fish are accentuated by the etched brass filigree, giving the shade a distinctly Oriental feel. Filigree is used in a handful of Tiffany lamp designs including the Fish, Dragonfly and Poppy shades. Tiffany Studios also employed filigrees in a wide variety of desk sets.

 

16" Tulip

 

We recently completed several projects including an 18 Light Lily Table Lamp for a client in Washington, DC (not shown) and this 16" Tulip for a client in Brooklyn, New York.

Supported by a backdrop of lush foliage tulips in a variety of colors cover the shade. Our client chose the distinctive Square Turtleback base to go with this shade. Each of the four sides of the base is inset with a large pressed glass turtleback tile. An interior light illuminates the base.

 

18" Peony

One of Tiffany Studios most successful and popular shade patterns is the 18" Peony. The turban shaped shade is covered in large blooms and is a perfect canvas for the glass artist to showcase exceptional glass.

For this shade, Irwin Terry chose an assortment of soft pink, green and light amber glasses, mixing them together in an Impressionist-style color scheme. Digging deep into our library of glass, the flowers feature glass made by the Lins and Schlitz glass foundries, both of which ended production in the 1990's.

Shown on the Mock Turtle base (21.5" tall), this shade has been sold and is now in a private collection on the West Coast.