20" Arrowhead Lamp

We recently completed a 20" Arrowhead shade for a client in Texas. The client has an antique Grueby pottery base that the shade is now illuminating.

The arrowhead design has a distinctly arts and crafts feel to it. This design has a fairly unique Tiffany Studios approach - representational, yet stylized and rhythmic in its execution.

With a sunset orange sky at the top, through the lush green foliage, and continuing to the white flowers, the piece has strong colors throughout the shade. Bill is seen foiling a portion of the shade and Irwin is busy soldering in the second photo.

22" Peony Shade

This past week we completed a 22" Peony shade for our showroom. The shade is now on display and available for purchase.

The color inspiration for this shade was based on the 22" Peony shade once owned by Barbara Striesand, with a rich amber/yellow background that supports a riot of peony flowers in full bloom. Flower colors range from white with hints of red/pink to deep crimson reds.

Tiffany Studios created two versions of the 22" Peony shade, along with a third 22" "Elaborate" Peony design. This is the first time we have created this second version of the 22" Peony shade, and we now offer this design in either variation.

It is not unusual to find several versions of the same shade pattern. Floral lamps were designed by Clara Driscoll and once the pattern was approved, thin copper templates were made for each piece in the lamp. After several shades were cut using these templates, they would become worn down and new templates would need to be made. This offered the lamp department the opportunity to implement changes to the designs.

Often, flowers and leaves were added or removed, and some shapes to the pieces would be altered. Sometimes the changes were dramatic (look at our 16" Tulip and 16" Tulip Field shades), but often it takes a keen eye to spot the differences between shades. Spotting differences becomes even more difficult because the lamps were made in so many different color schemes.

Chandeliers

We completed our order for multiple chandelier fixtures and shipped them to New York state.
The 22" Turtleback shade has five lights inside and a large turtleback tile at the bottom of the shade. The amber turtleback tiles are complimented by the rich amber background glass.

The two other fixtures were a pair of inverted 16" Acorn chandeliers. We seem to be working in multiples this year, creating matchings pairs of lamps for clients. These two fixtures will hang in the same room and have a turtleback tile at the bottom of each shade. Each fixture has three lights illuminating the shade. In the photo at the top of the posting, you can see that the acorn band has a greener background than the rest of the shade, setting off the acorns themselves from the geometric rows.

Last week we sent out the 2011 Limited Edition Dragonfly Vases to everyone who ordered them. Our edition of 25 numbered pieces is sold out. Watch for delivery this week!

Owl Window

A local client recently commissioned an owl window for her husband as a birthday gift. The completed window was approximately 27" x 30" and was finished in a cherry frame to hang in his home office/study.






Using a favorite print by John James Audubon as inspiration for the window, we were asked to add more color to the image since the original print shows owls against a fairly flat night sky. Bill added drama to the image with the background glass.

The owls are completely hand painted on the glass by Bill, using powdered minerals which are fired in a kiln to fuse the painting to the surface of the glass. Using the print as a guide, the details of feathers and faces are recreated on the glass.





Once the owls were completely painted and fired, the window was foiled and soldered together.

The completed window made a wonderful birthday surprise.