16" Apple Blossom

The 16" Apple Blossom is an elegant design with a strong Asian influence. Tree branches move diagonally across the shade bearing leaves and flowers in full bloom. The dramatically blended amber & green glass chosen for the body of the shade provides a lush backdrop for the delicate pink-tinged flower petals. The shade is shown on the Bump base. This shade was made as a showroom piece and is now in a private collection.

Wall Street Journal

The Saturday/Sunday February 17 & 18, 2018 Design and Decorating section of the Wall Street Journal featured an interior with a Century Studios lamp. The Acorn shade on Tobacco Leaf base appears on a side table in a Portland, OR client's library.

New Shade Design

The 10" Dogwood Ball is the most recent addition to our line of reproduction Tiffany lamps. Dogwood trees have large showy flowers that bloom in the spring and are a motif used time and again by Tiffany Studios in lamps and windows. At Century Studios we now offer four dogwood patterns - the 10" ball, 12" & 16" domes, and the 22" straight sided dome.

The 10" Dogwood Ball has a non-repeating design of  flowers, leaves and branches. The compact ball shape makes it a unique Tiffany design. Commissioned by a local client, this shade was made for use as newel post lamp in the front entry of their home. This shade can also be used as a tall table lamp or as a pendant chandelier fixture.

Lamp of the Week: 20" Turtleback Dome

One of the many variations of turtleback shades we create is the 20" Turtleback Dome.  The lamp was commissioned in 2014 and has a band of hand cut emerald green turtleback tiles bookmarked above and below by rows of mottled green glass. The shade is shown on the 7 Handled Pottery base.

22" Laburnum, Part2

We have completed the 22" Laburnum lamp for our client in Florida. Upon receiving the lamp, our client wrote, "The lamp is absolutely beautiful! The glass and base are perfect... and the craftsmanship...is truly second to none!"

The Laburnum shade has the unique feature of being lobed, which in combination with the irregular lower edge, gives the lamp a heightened three dimensional quality. The shade represents a flowering Laburnum tree, and the design begins at the top with dense foliage and branches. The deep cerulean blue sky compliments the mix of lush greens and warm brown tones. A smattering of blossoms begin to appear near the top of the shade.

Distinctive trailing blossoms dominate the lower three quarters of the shade. Bright yellow, deep yellow, light and dark amber, and yellow tinged with green are skillfully blended together to play off the leaves and lighter azure tones of the sky. This highly detailed shade takes close to 300 hours to complete.

The shade was mated with the organic Twisted Vine base, but can be used with many different shade/base combinations. This shade also makes a stunning chandelier fixture. We are showing the shade on the Perforated base and also on the Twisted Vine Floor Base.

Lamp of the Week: 28" Dragonfly Chandelier

This dragonfly is one of two 28" Dragonfly shade patterns that we offer.  With the flying insects swirling diagonally across its surface, this pattern is full of excitement. We created this shade in 1996 using Lins glass, and the background of the shade is studded with pressed glass jewels made at our studio. This chandelier is in a local collection.

22" Laburnum, Part 1

Tiffany Studios took inspiration from all types of colorful plants for its lamp designs. The Laburnum shade was made in several sizes and represents the flowering tree with stunning trailing flowers that is commonly known as the "Golden Chain Tree" (laburnum photo courtesy of Susan Campbell Noran). We were commissioned by a client in Florida to create a 22" Laburnum.

With just under 2000 individual pieces of glass, the 22" Laburnum shade is one of the most time consuming shades we create. Each piece of glass in this complex pattern is individually laid out, hand cut, and precisely fit to the pattern. Two thirds of the shade are shown on the light table, where we double check our glass selection before assembling the shade.


The outside edge of each piece of glass gets individually wrapped with a thin copper foil. The foiled pieces are then transferred onto the three dimensional form and are held in place with our house made tacky beeswax. Once each piece has been fit onto the form, we begin soldering the shade. Once the exterior has been completely soldered, the form is heated so the wax will melt and release the shade from the form.

 

All large shades have a network of copper reinforcement wires soldered along the lead lines inside the shade to add additional strength to the lamp. In addition to the vertical reinforcement wires, the horizontal reinforcement can be seen in the above photo. Irwin is in the process of adding a half round copper wire to the lower edge of the shade, which will provide strength to the irregular edge and also give it a finished look.

The completed lamp will be shown in an upcoming post.

Lamp of the Week: 26" Turtleback Chandelier

The 26" Turtleback shade was designed to be used as a chandelier fixture. This massive shade perfectly conveys the impression of a large tortoise shell, thus the moniker for both the shade and the pressed glass tiles used to create it. Composed entirely of large turtleback tiles, the spaces between the tiles are filled in with hand cut turtleback pieces. This impressive chandelier fixture weighs in at just under 50lbs. Created as a showroom example in the early 2000's, the shade is now in the collection of a Southern client.