18 Light Table Lily Lamp

A milestone in the history of lighting design, Louis Comfort Tiffany introduced lily table lamps in the 1890's and showed the world what could be created with an electric light bulb and some imagination. This lamp is inspired by a cluster of water lilies, with the lustre glass flowers nodding gently above bronze lily pads and buds. Even the light bulb was incorporated into the design, forming the stamen of each blossom.

At Century Studios, our reproduction Lily Lamps are created using molds taken off an original Tiffany Studios example. The illuminated sculpture begins with a cluster of heavy cast bronze lily pads from which the flowers ascend. The metalwork is finished with an authentic verdigris patina and each stem supports a blown glass flower that emits a warm golden glow. We have just completed this 18 Light Lily Table Lamp for a client in California.

Lamp of the Week: 22" Turtleback Turban

This 22" Turtleback Turban has a deep, brooding personality. The heavily mottled, richly colored red & green glass of the upper and lower geometric portions of the shade are the perfect backdrop for the band of black cherry colored turtlebacks. This distinctive shade is shown on the popular Perforated base (26" tall, telescopes taller). The addition of the corkscrew "pigtail" cap adds the finishing touch to this large table lamp. This lamp was created in 2018 and is in a private local collection.

20" Jonquil Daffodil

Springtime daffodils were Louis Comfort Tiffany's favorite flowers and he had banks of these sunny flowers lining the drive to his Long Island, New York estate. The 20" Jonquil Daffodil combines two varieties of daffodil on one design. Set against a blue sky and surrounded by it distinctive green foliage, tall yellow daffodil trumpets overlook the shorter Narcissus on the lower half of the shade.

The shade has a generously proportioned dome shape that provides the perfect canvas for the rhythmic positioning of the blooms.

Horizontal border rows give the design stability and keep the exuberant flowers in check. The shade is shown on the elegant Library base (23" tall). This lamp is now in a private home in Nevada.

Lamp of the Week: 24" Border Peony

The 24" Border Peony combines a geometric background with a wide floral border on the lower half of the shade. Exuberant flowers burst forth in profusion, showing off their brilliant petals and dense foliage. The rich amber tones of the shade provide a warm backdrop for the pink & red flowers. The leaves are tinged with both the flower and background colors, giving the shade a balanced feel. The generous proportions of the shade make it a perfect choice for use as a floor lamp or large hanging fixture. This shade was created in 2014 and is in a private collection.

15" Spider

While we do not do lamp repairs, we will fix shades from our studio if something happens to them. This past week a local client brought in one of our lamps which was in need of minor repairs after a run in with a particularly destructive cat. The client had acquired the lamp a number of years ago in a local antiques shop. We were pleasantly surprised to see that, according to our shade numbering system which is part of our signature process, this lamp dated from 1989 and was the first 15" Spider we created. Even more surprising is the fact that we still had a small fragment sized piece of the same Oceana glass we used to make the shade AND that Bill Campbell located the piece in a matter of minutes. 

In 1989 we acquired the mold for the shade, the bronze spider legs, and the spider cap from Studio Disselhoff in Los Angeles. Throughout the 90's we would continue to source spider crowns and caps (and many lamp bases) until 1999 when Willy Disselhoff retired and we bought out the studio. We now cast our own spider legs and caps. This past week we received a phone call from a retired glassmaker who informed us that Willy Disselhoff had passed away on October 17, 2023 at the age of 95.

Lamp of the Week: 20" Daffodil

 

One of Tiffany Studio's more popular floral shade designs is the 20" Daffodil. This is one of the few shade patterns where the flowers are inverted, rather than "growing" from the bottom of the shade. Having the flowers are clustered at the lower edge of the shade, the 20" Daffodil makes a wonderful chandelier fixture.

This colorful shade has flowers that range from light buttery yellow to rich amber. The mixed greens of the long leaves are echoed in the border rows. For the background pieces, a sparkling cerulean blue mixed with yellow imparts a lively touch to the shade. The shade is shown on the Grooved base (26" tall). This lamp was created in 2019 and is now in a private home in Massachusetts.

Studio Hours

 

Century Studios will be closed

Thursday March 28 through Monday April 1. We will resume regular business hours on Tuesday April 2.