Busy Week & Studio Hours

It was a busy week at Century Studios. In addition to working on our lamp projects, we received two crates of glass from the Youghiogheny Opalescent Glass Co. on Wednesday. We do not have a loading dock at the studio, so the crates were delivered to the the sidewalk outside our front door. Fortunately, it was a beautiful day with late summer sunshine and moderate temperatures.

As each sheet of glass was carefully removed from the crates they were carried into our studio showroom.

The sheets were temporarily stacked in the showroom area while we dealt with the packing materials and crates on the sidewalk.

The stunning sheets of glass were then carried to the light table to be examined before finding their way into our glass racks. These inspiring sheets of glass will soon be incorporated into upcoming projects along with the other sheets in our glass library.

STUDIO HOURS

Century Studios will be closed September 14 through September 21. Beginning September 22 we will have erratic studio hours for the following two weeks.  

Photos by Dustin Nelson

25" Rose Bush

The never fading beauty of the flowers covering the 25" Rose Bush  are a symbol of love, admiration and grace. This recently completed shade is installed as a chandelier fixture over a large dining table in a private Midwestern home. 

Lush flowers cavort and tumble across this generously proportioned shade. Bill Campbell chose a lively mix of reds for the roses, and each bloom is composed of several different glasses that have been expertly blended together to give depth to each bloom. Sturdy stems and lush foliage give a fullness to the design. The multicolored background includes blue, light amber, and peach, adding fullness to the look of the shade. 

Irwin Terry is shown moving glass onto the form in preparation for soldering the shade. This photo gives a sense of the scale and shape of the shade. 

Hybrid tea roses are not a common motif in Tiffany lamps, with Louis Tiffany and his designers preferring wild roses. This lamp design shows the grandeur and beauty of the rose in all its glory.

 

16" Poppy

The 16" Poppy has a simple elegance that makes it the perfect lamp for any room in the house. Rising from an undulating band of leaves, the bold poppy flowers dance across the upper portion of the shade. Metal filigree adds depth to the flower centers. The veining on the leaves is achieved through placing the filigree on the inside of the shade, behind the semi-transparent green glass. 

A cheerful yellow glass was chosen for the background of the shade which sets off the orange poppy flowers. Ripple glass in the lower border rows gives additional visual interest to the piece. The shade is mated with the Lummis base (19" tall). This base design has a modern look that was inspired by the seed pod of a lotus plant. 

This lamp is currently available for purchase from our studio showroom.

Recent Projects

We have completed several projects recently. This 10" Geometric on a Ruffle base (overall lamp height 17") was created with a dramatic shift from white to green. The ripple glass in the upper and lower borders adds visual interest to the shade.

The 12" Apple Blossom shade is an accent lamp with a light and friendly personality. The pink and white flowers are set against a green and yellow background. The shade is shown on the Zodiac base (16" tall).

The mottled green and yellow glass chosen for this 16" Acorn shade was from a line of glass called Circa 1900, which no longer being produced. The Arts & Crafts feel of the shade is enhanced by the delicately intricate Cereus base (17" tall).

All three lamps shown have been sold and are in private collections. 

 

Chain Mail Lantern

Tiffany Studios created a variety of fixtures using chain mail. At Century Studios we recreate the distinctive Chain Mail Lantern. Each square of the curtain of chain mail is carefully crafted by hand, a process that Irwin Terry refers to as "weaving in metal and glass". Chain mail can be made made using any color of glass. We chose n emerald green ripple glass for this example.

The lantern is 9" wide and the fixture is approximately 33" in length (as shown). This fixture can be made longer or a little shorter, depending on how much bronze loop chain is used. This fixture is currently available for purchase in our studio showroom.

18" Flowering Lotus

The 18" Flowering Lotus is one of Tiffany Studios' most ornate lamp designs. 

The integrated shade and base work together to create an illuminated sculpture that starts at the table with a profusion of cast bronze lily pads. 

The 10 Light Lily Pad base (27.5" tall) has a vertical thrust of ten individual light stems that rise up to form a column that supports the shade. Each stem ends in a light socket that illuminates the shade at multiple levels.  

The upward trajectory of the bronze stems continues into the design of the shade as the glass flower stems split into a cascade that splays forth from the top of the shade like a waterfall. The stems and water at the top of the shade must be painstakingly cut, fit, foiled and soldered with precision as many of the upper pieces are slivers of glass that are narrower than the thickness of the glass. A series of eight vent holes were designed into the shade to allow the heat from the lights to dissipate.

The lower half of the shade is covered in lotus flowers and leaves. For this shade we selected an exuberant mix of pink glasses for the flowers themselves. The colorful stems are set against a watery background of blues and purples. 

Each step in the creation of this lamp must takes time, patience and determination. After the layout, cutting, fitting and foiling, Bill Campbell is shown transferring each piece individually onto the waxed form.

Irwin Terry is soldering the outside of the shade before removing it from the form, adding reinforcement wires and completing the inside soldering.

At Century Studios, we create both the shade and base for each reproduction lamp we make. After pouring waxes for each part, we use a local foundry to cast the parts in bronze. The raw bronze is then fit and finished at our studio and each part is given a verdigris patina. The patina on the parts for the 10 Light Lily Pad base are shown drying before being lacquered, waxed and final assembly. 

This lamp was created for a client in Georgia and has been sold. 

14 Dragonfly

The 14" Dragonfly packs a lot of punch into a compact shade. 

Six filigreed dragonflies hover against a jeweled background. For the body of this shade we started with a sunny yellow glass that moved into a lively chartreuse. The blue dragonfly bodies and multicolored pressed glass jewels provide contrast while the filigree adds detail and texture.

Shown on the Chinese base (16" tall), this delightful accent lamp has been sold and is in a local private collection.