Year End 2019

Century Studios is closed for the holidays and will reopen on Thursday January 2. Here is a preview of the first two lamps we will complete in 2020.

We would like to thank everyone who has made 2019 an exciting and stimulating year at the studio. We truly appreciate all of your comments, questions (both live and on line), and commissions. You continue to make each day an adventure in glass and we are grateful for the opportunity to create pieces that will be part of your lives for years to come.

See you in 2020!

Lamp of the Week: 22" Poinsettia

The 22" Poinsettia shade depicts a cluster of plants bursting forth through a formal trellis. A variety of reds tinged with blue, purple, and yellow were blended together for the plants. The light blue background glass at the top of the shade deepens to purple and amber. Unifying these colors is the multicolored trellis glass with its hints of blue, amber, and green. The shade is shown on the elegant Artichoke Trumpet base (24" tall). Created as a showroom piece in 2015, the lamp is now in a private collection.

Century Studios will be closed Sunday December 22 through Wednesday January 1.

Lamp Bases

Our foundry work has increased dramatically in recent months, and we have been completing several lamp base projects over the past few weeks.

We recently shipped a Small Stick and Twisted Vine base, each going to clients on a different coast. A pair of Twisted Vine w/Arms left the studio on Friday en route to their new home. As we completed these bases, we also have three shades in various stages of production that will appear in upcoming posts.

Century Studios hours this week are Tuesday - Friday 10 - 5:30 and Saturday December 21 10 - 4:00. The studio will be CLOSED December 22 through January 1, 2020.

Lamp of the Week: 16" Poinsettia

The 16" Poinsettia shade has a geometric background with a wide decorative border of colorful plants. The warm amber tones of the background are a perfect backdrop for the lively greens and reds of the poinsettias. The shade is shown on the Flower Petal w/Arms base. This lamp was commissioned in 2004 and is in a private collection.

16" Dragonfly on Dragonfly Mosaic Urn Base

The 16" Dragonfly is one of our most popular Tiffany shade designs. The pattern has an elegant simplicity, with seven dragonflies hovering in formation over a stylized background. The delicately filigreed wings of each dragonfly overlap one another as they encircle the shade. A green glass mixed with blue was chosen for the body of the lamp, while the dragonfly bodies and wings are a mix of blue and purple.

The shade is shown on the elaborate Dragonfly Mosaic Urn base. The rounded shape of the base is decorated with sculpted dragonflies and flowering water plants in relief. The glass mosaic was painstakingly hand cut, fit, and applied to the base by Bill Campbell. Once applied, the mosaic has been completed by grouting the surface, after which the the patina was finished and the base wired and assembled. It should be noted that each time we create a mosaic base, the result will be unique combination of glass colors.

This lamp was commissioned by a client in Delaware.

Lamp of the Week:

The 18" Flowering Lotus Lamp is one of the most detailed and technically challenging lamps we offer. With almost 1800 individual pieces of glass within the confines of a relatively small shade, this piece must be meticulously hand crafted and assembled. For comparison, the 28" Magnolia shade has 1260 pieces of glass. Commissioned in 2017 by a California client, the coloration for this shade was inspired by the original Tiffany Studios example in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/4715). A rippled water glass sets the stage for the multicolored stems in the upper half of the shade. The flowers are created in tones of white, off white, and pink, with tinges of yellow, green, and red. The shade flares to an irregular lower border that enhances the natural look of the lamp.

The integrated shade and base begins with a wide cluster of bronze lily pads which rests firmly on the table. Ten individual flower stems ascend from the pads, making their way up inside the shade, each ending in a light socket. The upward thrust of the bronze stems is picked up and transformed into glass on the shade.  Each glass stem splits and follows the path indicated by the base as they cascade downwards from the top of the shade. These delicate glass stems end in a glorious explosion of blossoms.

20" Azalea

The 20" Azalea has several unique features which give the shade a unique personality.The unusual modified turban shape enhances the look of a plant growing upwards, spreading its flowering branches towards the sun in springtime.

The open flowers are enhanced with beads of sculpted solder representing the flower centers. The added solder gives the shade a lively three dimensional quality.

With abundant leaves, buds, and flowers covering the shade in a dense tangle, the overall effect of this pattern is lush. The background shifts from green mixed with blue at the top down to celadon green at the bottom. The flowers are rendered in striated and mottled gold pink glass mixed with whites. The shade was commissioned by a client in North Carolina. It is shown on the Grooved base (26" tall).