18" Apple Blossom, part 2

Work continues on the 18" Apple Blossom. After soldering the outside of the shade and attaching the cast crown at the top, the Fiberglas form was heated, the wax (which held the pieces in place before soldering) was melted, and the shade was removed from the form...Or more accurately, the form is removed from the shade, as can be seen in the short video clip below.


The video makes the process look much faster than it actually is! Heating a form of this type takes about 20 - 30 minutes. Once off the form, Irwin spent the past week soldering the interior of the shade and adding the reinforcing wires. In the photo below, Irwin can be seen attaching the copper wire to the irregular bottom edge of the shade. Much time is spent completely soldering the lower wire to provide support and a nice, finished lower edge.

18" Apple Blossom

Work is progressing on the 18" Apple Blossom shade. The past week was spent completing the foiling, transferring the pieces and soldering the shade together. This coming week, much time will be spent by Irwin with his head inside the shade reinforcing and completing the soldering!

Lots Going On

Last week at Century Studios was very busy...and productive! We worked on several projects during the week, completing some and making progress on others.

Two of our larger projects included a window panel for a door made almost entirely out of lustre glass (see photo to the left), and continued progress on an 18" Apple Blossom Shade. We will be showing the finished results of both projects in future posts. The photo to the right shows Irwin waxing the form for the lamp shade. The foiled pieces of glass will be transferred onto the form and held in place by the wax for soldering.

16" Fish Shade

One of the final lamps we completed in 2010 was a 16" Fish Shade on the Bell Pepper Base. Commissioned by a client in North Carolina, this shade has lots of color in both the swimming Koi and in the background glass. As can be seen from the two photos of this lamp, each fish in the shade has a different color accent. This will give the shade a different look depending on which side faces forward.

The Bell Pepper base was created in our studio. This unusual Tiffany Studios' base design can be used with 14" or 16" shades.

20" Windswept Daffodil Shade

Let's start the new year out by adding a new pattern to our lamp offerings! The 20" Windswept Daffodil shade (see photo below, right) is a naturalistic companion to the linear 20" Daffodil shade (see photo to the left). In this exciting Tiffany Studio's design, the flowers are still clustered towards the lower edge of the shade which makes it a perfect choice for a chandelier fixture.

Rather than being rendered in a tight, formal vertical format, the daffodils are being scattered by a strong wind and dance across the surface of the shade. The example shown was completed in December for an out of state client. The lamp base shown in the photo is a Grueby reproduction, Kendrick design pottery base created in conjunction with Ephraim Faience Pottery.