16" Pomegranate Shade

We recently completed a 16" Pomegranate shade for a San Francisco client. The shade was created in amber/yellow tones and is being used as a table lamp with one of our exclusive Pottery lamp bases. The amber-glazed "Kendrick" pottery design of the base perfectly compliments the shade.

The Pomegranate is a variation on the Acorn pattern. Tiffany Studios created many different shade designs using the theme of a brickwork background with a decorative border (Pomegranate, Acorn, Turtleback, Mushroom, and Fleur de Lis being a few). These designs have a classic, pleasing look and can be created in a large variety of color combinations. Because of the non-fussy appearance of these shade designs, they work with any appropriately sized lamp base, and they look particularly good in modern and arts & crafts interiors.

The design of the Pomegranate shade is slightly unusual in that the pomegranates themselves are rendered smaller than life size. The prevailing design principal at Tiffany Studios was to be "true to nature", but here the fruit is sized to fit the band becoming more of a decorative element. This departure from the norm firmly places the Pomegranate in the "geometric shade" category and not as a floral shade.

The example in green glass was created in 2001 and is pictured on the unusual Snake and Basket Base. The example to the left is shown on the Small Stick Base and was created in 2006.

Some Small Geometric Lamps

Here are a couple of small geometric lamps that we recently completed for a client in California. The 10" Acorn shade on the Queen Anne's Lace base makes a great small accent lamp. The slender candlestick base works well with this shade.

The 14" Geometric shade was created with a Budding Gourd pottery lamp base. The pottery portion was hand thrown to our specifications by Ephraim Faience Pottery and we created the reproduction Tiffany metalwork. Because of the squat shape of this lamp, it works particularly well on a taller bookcase or dresser.

2009 Limited Edition Dragonfly Vase

Century Studios is excited to introduce the latest in our collection of Limited Edition Dragonfly Vases. Created exclusively for Century Studios by Ephraim Faience Pottery in a signed, numbered edition of 50 hand made pieces, this years vase is the eleventh in our series. We are now accepting pre-orders for this vase, which will be completed by mid-April 2009. Each piece will bear the Ephraim Faience Pottery and Century Studios' hallmarks along with an incised limitation on the base of the vase.

If you would like to purchase this exciting piece, contact Century Studios now to pre-order the vase. Only 50 pieces will be made and they are available on a first-come-first-served basis. Pre-order pricing of $238.00 (plus sales tax and/or shipping). All orders must be paid in full and will be available for pick-up or shipped by mid-April '09. To see previous Century Studios' Limited Edition Dragonfly Vases, visit the Ephraim Pottery section of website gallery page. All previous editions are sold out.

Lamp Presentation

On Sunday February 7, Irwin Terry and Bill Campbell gave a presentation about Tiffany lamps and Century Studio's work reproducing these famous designs to the Twin Cities Bungalow Club. The 1-1/2 hour presentation began with a history of Tiffany Studios, and how Tiffany lamps have become the gold standard for all stained glass lighting.

We then progressed to the design developments of Tiffany lamps, and through examples of materials and processes, showed how we recreate these designs today. Many of the attendees were local stained glass hobbyists in addition to members of the Bungalow Club. We had an enjoyable afternoon presenting work and answering many questions about lamp making and Tiffany Studios.

The event was attended by over 65 people and was held at a local community center. The Twin Cities Bungalow Club hosts yearly spring home tours, showcasing memorable bungalows in the Twin Cities area. They also sponsor presentations on topics of interest to those living in, and preserving older homes. For more information on the Twin Cities Bungalow Club, go to: http://www.bungalowclub.org/

Renoir Window

Bill has completed the preliminary work for our next window project: Renoir's On the Terrace. Translating any Impressionist painting into a stained glass window is a challenge because there are few hard lines or clear delineations to the images.

The first step to creating any stained glass piece is to make the cartoon. When working with Impressionist source material we have to stand back, look at the image, and define what the objects in the painting actually are. The most challenging area of this image is the background which is full of trees, foliage, and the distant buildings and boaters. We will be working with plated layers of fracture/streamer glass to create the soft palate of colors in the painting.

Before we can begin work on the main body of the piece, Bill has to get the painted hands and faces of the figures completed. Creating painted images on glass involves hand-painting layers of powdered minerals onto the glass surface, each of which must be fired in a kiln before the next layer can be added. Shown at the right is the first fired layer on the figure's faces. This "tracing" layer defines the features of the woman and girl and gives Bill a structure to begin adding layers of color to each face.