Lamp of the Week: 16" Fish

The 16" Fish shade is an unusual Tiffany shade design. With the notable exception of the dragonfly shades, very few Tiffany designs feature wildlife motifs. Five Koi swim gracefully across the surface of the shade in a rhythmic pattern. Filigree overlays accentuate the fins on each fish. This striking shade was created using a lightly textured water glass and heavily rippled glass for the lower edge. Hints of orange, amber, and blue appear in the predominantly green background, while the deep orange fish are tinged with green and yellow. Commissioned by a South Dakota client in 2016, the shade is shown on the Shell Urn base (11" height to the armset).

 

Foundry Week

At Century Studios, we now create all of our bases and metalwork in house. This past Monday was a foundry pickup and drop off day. These are raw bronze castings that will be worked on for upcoming projects.

Lamp of the Week: 12" Apple Blossom

The turban shaped 12" Apple Blossom shade makes a wonderful accent or desk lamp.  For this shade, we chose a golden color scheme. Rich amber tones were used throughout the shade, with pink and white flowers and light spring green leaves. The shade is shown on the Chinese base (16" tall). Each of the four sides of the base has incised patterns with a stylized dragon motif. We created this lamp in 2010 as a showroom lamp and it is now in a private collection.

16" Dragonfly

Dragonfly shades come in many sizes and can be created in any color. For this 16" Dragonfly, we used a rich, velvety blue and green mix for the body of the shade. The green in the background is echoed in the border rows. The seven dragonflies that encircle the shade have deep blue bodies and wings tinged with blue and purple. The shade was commissioned by an East Coast client.

The base is a one-of-a-kind pottery and bronze base that uses the cast bronze bottom from the Flower Petal base. The center section is a hand thrown pottery insert glazed in dark pumpkin color. This base is currently available for purchase.

Lamp of the Week: 22" Dogwood

 Like many flowering trees, the Dogwood was a favorite subject for Tiffany lamps and windows. The 22" Dogwood shade is generously proportioned, and the large flowers are set against horizontal rows which give the design structure and suggest an architectural element. We created this shade for our showroom in 2016 and and is now in a private local collection. The springtime colors blend together pink and white flowers against a multicolored blue background. The shade is shown on the Perforated base (this base is currently unavailable).

20" Dragonfly

The first lamp to be completed in the New Year is this 20" Dragonfly shade, which was commissioned by a client in Pennsylvania.

In the photo above, the partially foiled shade is shown laid out flat on the light table. The colors were carefully blended to transition from blue to butter yellow. The shift is accented by the warm woody tones of the lower border rows and dragonfly bodies. Light blue jewels are scattered across the upper portion of the shade.

Once all of the pieces were cut, fit, and foiled, the shade was transferred onto the waxed form one piece at a time. The exterior of the shade was soldered, the form was heated so the wax would release the shade and the interior was finished. The final step in the construction of the shade is to add metal filigree over each dragonfly wing.

The shade is shown on the Twisted Vine with Arms and Ring base. This base has an organic feel that is typical of Tiffany Studios' early lamp designs where the shade and base blend together into an organic lit sculpture.

Lamp of the Week: 10" Pansy

Inspired by Tiffany Studios' 16" Pansy pattern, the 10" Pansy shade is a Century Studios original shade design. Introduced in 2013, this compact shade can be made in a wide variety of colors. For this example, we used muted tones of blue, purple, green, and pale butter yellow. We created this example in 2015 as a showroom piece and it is now in a private collection. The shade is shown on the Ruffle base (overall height of lamp 17").

18" Cobweb on Wheat Mosaic Base

Century Studios closed out 2019 on a high note, completing a commission for an 18" Cobweb & Apple Blossom shade on a Wheat Mosaic base.

The 18" Cobweb shade is an unusual Tiffany Studios shade design with thick, cast metal branches making up the irregular lower rim and extending up into the shade itself. Each of the six flattened sides has a cobweb anchored in between the branches. Each web is different, with only one containing an industrious spider.

We chose rich blues for the sky at the top of the shade that lighten and fade into the multicolored webs. The apple blossom flowers and buds are a mix of pink, red and white.

The Wheat Mosaic base is intricately detailed with bronze wheat shafts and foliage in relief rising up between stylized tree trunks. Glass mosaic makes up the background of the base, and like the shade the color changes from deep blue at the top to lighter tones lower on the base. The mosaic work for this base is finely detailed and precisely fit. It takes Bill Campbell close to three full weeks or production time to do the mosaic for the base, carefully fitting and adjusting every individual piece into place. Once fit, the mosaic is grouted and the patina on the metal is completed.

The completed lamp was delivered just before Christmas to our client in Washington state.

Welcome 2020

Century Studios resumes regular business hours today.

Century Studios is welcoming 2020 with an expanded list of available lamp parts. We began manufacturing our own line of parts this past summer when Odyssey Lamp Systems ceased production of lamp bases and metalwork.We have a list the parts now available on our website in the Gallery/More/Lamp Parts section. All parts are manufactured by Century Studios and are compatible with Odyssey Lamp Systems forms and metalwork.