Thank You for a Fantastic Year!

In 2011, we introduced 10 new shade designs to our list of available patterns. With the addition of these new patterns, we have increased our shade offerings to over 150 different designs. For more information on each of the patterns shown below, look at our blog entries from the month listed.

January - 20" Windswept Daffodil
April - 20" Acorn
March - 18" Turtleback shade (a variation on the 18" Turtleback shades we have created in the past - we now offer three versions of this shade)
June - 18" Alamander
14" Chestnut - (an original Century Studios' shade design created by Bill Campbell)July - 18" Oak Leaf
20" Daffodil TurbanAugust - 30" Lotus Blossom Chandelier
September - 12" Geometric Turban
November - 22" Chestnut (our version of a Tiffany Studios shade design which does not appear to have been produced, even though a sample panel was made)
We also had a busy year with introducing bases and metalwork. In addition to creating customized chandelier fixtures for several clients, we added several new lamp bases to our line. New bases include the Doric Column Torchiere, the Budding Urn Pottery & Bronze base (created with Ephraim Faience Pottery), and the Lustre Ball Base. We also created our first reproduction floor base; the Bamboo Jr. Floor base.

Happy Holidays!

Century Studios is closed for the Holidays. We will resume regular business hours on Tuesday January 3. Thank you to all our clients and friends for making 2011 a great year!

-Irwin & Bill

One Week Left!

HOLIDAY HOURS
For the Week Before Christmas

Saturday Dec 17 10 - 4
Sunday Dec 18 12 - 4
Monday Dec 19 CLOSED
Tuesday Dec 20 10 - 6
Wednesday Dec 21 10 - 6
Thursday Dec 22 10 - 6
Friday Dec 23 10 - 6

Century Studios will be closed
Saturday Dec 24 through Monday Jan 2
We will resume regular business hours on Tuesday Jan 3

Lily Chandelier & Oz Window

This week we completed the 12 Light Lily Chandelier for our showroom. As with the 7 Light Lily Chandelier featured last week, this fixture is created in our studio, finished in a verdigris patina, and can be made at different lengths. On this fixture, we have used two styles of blown glass lily shades - one type is gently fluted, the other is more trumpet shaped. Since the fixture is inspired by a blooming lily plant, we thought it would be nice to have the "blossoms" at different stages of openness on the fixture.

We completed the Oz window for our local client. The completed window was framed in wood to be used a free hanging piece in our client's home.

This is based on the endpapers drawn by John R. Neill for Ozma of Oz, L. Frank Baum's third book in the Oz book series. Bill spent a lot of time painting the details in the figures - painting on glass is achieved by using powdered minerals which are ground into a "paint" and have to be kiln fired onto the surface of the glass. Similar to china painting, the colors are built up gradually, and each piece of glass must be fired multiple times.

HOLIDAY HOURS
Now through December 23
Tuesday through Friday 10 - 6
Saturday 10 - 4
Sunday 12 - 4
Closed Mondays
651-699-4838

Lily Chandelier & More

This past week we completed two light fixtures, a chandelier and a small table lamp. Both are available for purchase in our showroom.

The first is a 7 Light Lily Chandelier. Blossoming from a cast bronze basket, each stem rhythmically twists upward and flares out, ending in a blown glass lily. This fixture is created in our studio, finished in a verdigris patina, and can be made at different lengths. We will also be finishing up a 12 Light Lily Chandelier and an 18 Light Lily Chandelier in the next week or so.

Also new to the showroom this week is a lovely 10" Azalea shade. This detailed Tiffany design features azalea flowers in full bloom within a trellis. The flowers play against the green trellis and blended orange/green coloration of the background glass. The 10" Azalea is shown on the Lustre Ball base.

The Lustre Ball Base is a brand new addition to our lamp offerings. This petite lamp base is Century Studios' own interpretation of a rare Tiffany Studios candlestick/lamp base, and is created in our studio. The cast bronze bottom has a feeling of open airiness and sits on 16 feet, while the 16 glass balls surrounding the foot of the base add further dimension to this sculptural casting. The lustre surface of the balls reflects light, and the look is completed with two larger lustre balls incorporated into the stem.

HOLIDAY HOURS
Now through December 23
Tuesday through Friday 10 - 6
Saturday 10 - 4
Sunday 12 - 4
Closed Mondays
651-699-4838

Letter Openers

Our reproduction Tiffany Letter Openers make the perfect Holiday Gift! Cast in solid bronze, these "paper knives"are functional and beautiful. Each comes boxed with a description of the pattern. We offer seven styles of letter opener. $95.00 each.

Adam - The Adam pattern takes its inspiration from the neoclassical designs of architect Robert Adam (1728 - 1792). This knife is designed with a single, asymmetrical cutting edge and a decorative rosette at the hilt.
Bookmark - This elegant, slender design features the typographical marks of early printers and publishers from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
Chinese - A highly stylized dragon motif decorates the Chinese letter opener.
9th Century - This knife features a friendly, bushy tailed animal on each side of the handle. The intricate scrolling recalls medieval churches and illuminated manuscripts.
Venetian - The highly decorative patterning on the handle gives this knife an expensive look and feel.
Early Zodiac - The Zodiac motif was Tiffany Studios most popular desk set pattern. The decoration on this knife has an elegant simplicity which suggests Celtic origins.

Zodiac - Due to the popularity of the Zodiac desk set, a more elaborately patterned paper knife was introduced with zodiac symbols on each side.HOLIDAY HOURS
Now through December 23
Tuesday through Friday 10 - 6
Saturday 10 - 4
Sunday 12 - 4
Closed Mondays
651-699-4838

16" Fern Shade

We recently completed a 16" Fern shade for a client in Texas. This rare Tiffany Studios pattern is a mix between a naturalistic and a stylized design . Boldly symmetrical, the shade has a strong graphic sensibility while remaining true to the plant it represents.

The client requested a clear contrast between the ferns and the background color in this shade, with green ferns and a white background glass. The background was cut from a translucent white glass with green fracture/streamer. The fracture gives the shade an added interest, as if more plant stems can be seen through the fronds.

Shades of this type always take a bit of fortitude to create because there are so many small pieces which look very similar. Organization is key to keeping everything in its place throughout the construction process. It is easy to get confused when all the pieces start to look alike. To the right, Irwin is shown transferring the foiled pieces onto the waxed lamp form, and to the left he is shown soldering the inside of the shade.

The Fern is shown on the Cereus base. This distinctive bronze reproduction lamp base was created in our studio using molds taken from an original Tiffany Studios' example. The highly three dimensional design of the Cereus base takes its inspiration from a Nightblooming Cereus Cactus. Deep incuts define the ribs of the cactus while flowers bloom at the top of the casting.

Upon receiving the completed lamp, our client wrote, "The lamp is now in place and it is fantastic. It is not a well known design but it is one that I fell in love with the first time I saw a picture of it many years ago. I never thought I would have my own reproduction."

HOLIDAY HOURS
Now through December 23
Tuesday through Friday 10 - 6
Saturday 10 - 4
Sunday 12 - 4
Closed Mondays

Hooch Bottles

As we kick off our first weekend of extra Holiday Hours, we are offering the distinctive Hooch Bottles by Turner & Scratch Pottery at a special price.

These fantastic bottles are hand thrown and decorated, and each is emblazoned with a Skull & Crossbone design. Glazed inside and out, the bottles are water/liquor tight and each comes with a cork. Hooch Bottles are generously sized and will hold almost a complete bottle of your favorite, or most feared liquor.

HOLIDAY HOURS
Now through December 23
Tuesday through Friday 10 - 6
Saturday 10 - 4
Sunday 12 - 4
Closed Mondays

Holiday Hours

CENTURY STUDIOS
HOLIDAY HOURS
Now through December 23

Tuesday through Friday 10 - 6
Saturday 10 - 4
Sunday 12 - 4
Closed Mondays

We will be closed Thanksgiving Day, Thursday November 24th

1816 St. Clair Avenue
St. Paul, Minnesota 55105

651-699-4838

18" Poinsettia Trellis

To kick off the Holiday Season, we have made up an 18" Poinsettia Trellis lamp. Completed just in time for our Holiday Open House this past Friday evening, the lamp was featured prominently in our showroom. Our Open House was well attended, and we ended up not leaving the studio until well after 10pm!

This richly colored 18" Poinsettia radiates warmth with a deep orange/amber background glass and yellow/amber trellis. Forming a band around the shade, the abundant poinsettias are rendered in jewel like tones of vibrant red and reds flecked with amber. In the photo to the left, Irwin is foiling a portion of the lamp.

This generously proportioned shade is shown on a Kendrick design pottery base. The pottery portion of the base was created by Ephraim Faience Pottery, and is a hand made reproduction of a Grueby Pottery base. Glazed in their distinctive Antique Green glaze, the base is a perfect compliment to this shade. The 18" Poinsettia lamp is currently available for purchase in our showroom.

Open House Tonight!

Our Holiday Open House IS TONIGHT from 6pm to 9pm! Join us as we kick off our Holiday Season. Meet local potter Nick McArdell of Turner & Scratch Pottery and see his latest creations. Refreshments will be served.

Open House

Our Holiday Open House is this Friday, November 18th from 6pm to 9pm! Join us as we kick off our Holiday Season. Refreshments will be served.

In addition to several new pieces by Century Studios, we will be showcasing new works by Turner & Scratch Pottery. Potter Nick McArdell from Turner & Scratch will be in the studio.

22" Chestnut

This week, we introduce a new shade pattern which is a hybrid - the 22" Chestnut shade. This is a Century Studios' version of a Tiffany Studios shade design which does not appear to have been produced. For years, we have been fascinated by the salesman's sample panel of the Chestnut lamp which currently resides in the Morse Museum in Winter Park, Florida. The panel has appeared in several books on Tiffany lamps, but no completed shade seems to exist for this pattern and the lamp does not appear on the Tiffany price lists. This lack of concrete information for the lamp inspired us to work up our version of this unusual shade.

With only a photo of the panel and some general measurements to go by, we had to determine what size and shape would best fit the pattern. After much experimentation, we finally decided to create the shade as a 22" modified turban shape. The shape seemed to fit the pattern well and at the 22" shade size the flowers and leaves appeared to be life sized - something that is common in most Tiffany floral shade designs. Bill adapted the pattern to the form and we were able to commence creating the shade.
Using the original panel for color inspiration, our shade is rendered in richly saturated colors. At the top of the shade, the abundant flowers are viewed at the peak of bloom, and the colors are saturated with pinks, red tones and hints of off white. The large leaves overlap one another on the lower half, drawing the colors of the flowers down the shade. The background areas, viewed amongst the foliage and below the leaves was cut from fracture glass to give the shade additional color and interest. The fracture (or confetti) glass used on the top half of the shade was created in our studio specifically for this shade.

After completing this shade, it was surprising to us that there are no original Tiffany Studios' examples of this shade. The pattern is lush and has a vitality and movement that is the hallmark of the best of Tiffany Studios. The 22" Chestnut shade was created for a client in Illinois, and is shown on the Twisted Vine base. This stunning pattern would also make a wonderful chandelier fixture or floor lamp.

Oz Window & Holiday Open House

Bill has been working on another Oz-themed stained glass window - see the posting from August 2, 2010 for a previous Oz-themed creation. Commissioned by a local client, here are a couple shots of the progress.

This window is based on the endpapers drawn by John R. Neill for Ozma of Oz, L. Frank Baum's third Oz title. Bill had to made some minor adjustments to the image, but it's a pretty straight-forward adaptation of the original illustration. To the right, you can see the pattern, or cartoon, for the window.

On the left, pieces are being cut and fit to create the window. Below, all the glass has been cut and fit, and painting on the characters is beginning. We will show the completed window in a future post.




Century Studios will be having a Holiday Open House on from Friday November 18th from 6pm to 9pm! Join us as we kick off our Holiday Season. Refreshments will be served.

In addition to several new pieces by Century Studios, we will be showcasing new works by Turner & Scratch Pottery. Potter Nick McArdell from Turner & Scratch will be in the studio. We are also expecting a shipment of new pieces from Bur Oak Pottery.

16" Geometric

We recently completed a 16" Geometric shade for a client in Canada. The client requested deep red tone, and we made the shade in a rich, velvety red glass. The shade was mated with the Ribbed w/Arms base.

Bamboo Floor Base & Jeweled Feather Shade

This week we introduce a new floor base to our offerings - the Bamboo Jr. Floor Base. Made in our studio using molds taken from an original Tiffany Studios' example, the Bamboo Jr. Floor Base is lost wax cast in solid bronze.
The base starts at the floor resting on eight cushion feet tucked under the bronze disk. The bamboo spays out over the disk as a three dimensional openwork cage, gathering into a realistically detailed stem which moves upwards, ending in a three pronged split tripod to support the shade. The base has six lights.

We are showing the base with the 22" Bamboo shade. The lamp is capped with a reproduction Bamboo Cap, which completes the look of the piece. This base lends an exotic flair to any of our 22" shade designs, and works especially well with peony shades. The 25" Rose Bush or Roman shades also look great on this base, as do any of our 28" cone shades.

Also new to our showroom is a recently competed 16" Jeweled Feather shade. This abstract shade design has chunky pressed glass jewels at the top and ripple glass in the teardrop shaped pieces at the center of the lamp, resulting in a very textured lamp. We are showing the shade on the Small Stick base.