Century Studios Turns 40!

Century Studios was founded on June 1, 1986 by Irwin Terry and Bill Campbell. Over the past forty years Century Studios has steadfastly built a reputation for creating exceptional reproduction Tiffany lamps. 

As we mark 40 years in business, we pause to reflect the thousands of pieces (lamps, windows, suncatchers, mosaics, and miscellaneous decorative objects) that we have crafted over the years. 

Irwin Terry in 1986 at a local antiques show, gaining inspiration next to what was being sold as an original Tiffany Studios 28" Magnolia floor lamp. 

The decades of researching and producing reproduction lamps all started in 1985 with Irwin's first lamp, a 16" Dragonfly. Within a year of completing this lamp, our obsession for lamp making had firmly taken hold and Century Studios was founded. Over the past 40 years in business we have created more than 1300 lamps. The 16" Dragonfly shade remains our most popular reproduction design and we have made forty five examples to date. We are still using the same Odyssey dragonfly lamp form today that started it all. 

After three years of working from our home we moved our studio to the downtown Minneapolis warehouse district in 1989. This was the home to our studio for twenty years. These photos of our storefront and studio showroom are from around 2007.

Visitors to Century Studios stepped into our showroom and were invited to wander through the doorway at the back to learn how we made the lamps on display. We still invite visitors to view our works in progress and are happy to answer questions about our works.

Irwin Terry and Bill Campbell in the Minneapolis studio from the late 1980's. Below is another studio workroom shot from the mid 1990's showing our glass racks behind us. 

In 2009 we left downtown Minneapolis and moved the studio to our current location at 1816 St. Clair Avenue in St. Paul, MN. We have now been in St. Paul for seventeen years.

Here is our St. Paul, Minnesota studio showroom in June 2009, just after we moved in.

We would like to extend a sincere thank you to all of our clients who have made it possible for us to spend our lives doing what we love. Even as we celebrate our milestone 40 years in business, we still look forward to each day at the studio and to creating new works. As always, our studio is open for visitors to stop in and see finished pieces and works in progress!

 

Cobweb Lamp

An inspired combination of stained glass, cast bronze, and glass mosaic, the Cobweb lamp is one of Tiffany Studios' masterpiece creations. The Cobweb transcends traditional lighting design as it becomes an illuminated sculpture. We recently completed this stunning reproduction which is in a private collection.

Introduced in 1901, the Cobweb lamp was produced as an oil lamp even though Tiffany Studios was creating electrified lamps and fixtures at that time. Fewer than ten original examples are known today, and several of the later Cobweb lamps were made with electrical fittings as oil lamps were going out of style. The Cobweb lamp was included in the 1906 Studios' price list at $500.00 and was discontinued before Tiffany Studios published their 1910 price guide.

Heavy bronze straps representing the trunk of a flowering tree ascend from the table top, splitting into openwork metal branches that support the shade with an irregular rim. The branch work continues into the shade with heavy sculptural leading. 

Between the trunks, the base is covered with fine pictorial glass mosaic representing Narcissus flowers. Bill Campbell painstakingly cut, fit, affixed, and grouted the glass mosaic to the bronze lamp base.

The glass selection for this lamp was exhaustively discussed and carefully considered before the layout began. Since the shade is a series of spider webs strung between branches, leaves, and blossoms, we chose light and airy fracture/confetti/streamer glasses with unique tints and striations of color throughout. 

The eight sided shade resembles a cut diamond in shape, with each vignette of cobwebs defined by textured branches.  

Much of the fracture glass used for the background was made by Schlitz Studios in the 1980's and was combined with our own Century Studios produced sheet glass from the early 2000's.

This is the second Cobweb lamp produced at Century Studios. Knowing the challenges, time commitment, and skill level needed for each step in the creation of a Cobweb lamp, it is amazing to realize that Tiffany Studios produced as many of these spectacular lamps as they did between 1902 and 1910.
 

18" Peony

Peonies, with their large, distinctive blooms inspired Tiffany Studios to create some of their most striking lamp designs. We recently completed an 18" Peony for a client. 

This richly colored shade has a mix of deep red, purple, and fuchsia colored flowers set against a blue background. Lively greens and amber tones are mixed into areas of the background and the leaves. The textured border rows tie the colors together.

Textured glasses were used throughout the shade. Combined with the distinctive turban shape, this lamp calls out to be touched.

The shade is shown on the sculptural Mock Turtle base (22" tall). This lamp has been sold and is now in a private local collection.

20" Dragonfly

With its elegant shape and jeweled background 20" Dragonfly is one of Tiffany Studios most popular shade designs. Lending an air of formality to the design are dragonflies hovering in formation against an abstract background. The shade is shown on the organic Twisted Vine with Armset and Ring base. 

The blue tone at the top of the shade makes a dramatic shift to yellow, giving the shade a sense of drama. The background is studded with teal colored pressed glass jewels. Border and background colors are used in the dragonflies themselves, giving the dramatic coloration a sense of order and balance. This lamp has been sold and is now in a private collection. 

Spider Lamp

One of Tiffany Studios most popular small lamp designs is the Spider. The three dimensional cast bronze spider legs rest atop a stained glass web. The 15" Spider shade can be created in virtually any coloration making it a versatile color accent lamp. While the shade can be used with a number of different bases, Tiffany Studios almost always mated the shade with the highly detailed Mushroom base (16" tall).

For this example, the glass starts with green at the top and lightens on the lower portion of the shade to a mix of green, yellow and amber. This lamp has been sold and is in a private collection.

16" Pansy

The 16" Pansy is a finely detailed lamp design with the delicate flowers clustered in four groupings around the shade. The geometric background provides structure for the playful flowers. For this shade, the background undergoes a dramatic shift from white to green. 

Pansy flowers come in a wide variety of colors. The pansy shade is one of the few Tiffany lamp patterns that can naturalistically showcase blue and purple flowers.

Shown on the Small Stick base (20" tall), this lamp has been sold and is not available for purchase.
 

20" Dragonfly

Dragonflies remain one of Tiffany Studios' most popular design motifs. Dragonfly shades can be created in virtually any color scheme and are available in a variety of sizes from 14" to 28". We recently completed this stately 20" Dragonfly lamp. 

For the background of this shade, we chose a glass with a saturated mix of blue, purple and amber tones. The deep amber dragonfly bodies play off the magenta and amber in the filigreed wings. Textured border rows incorporate the colors of the background with the addition of green, which plays off the color of the jewels. Mated with the sculptural Twisted Vine base (25.5" tall), this exceptional lamp has been sold and is in a private collection.