22" Trumpet Vine Soldering

 

Large shades take a lot of time and meticulous attention to detail at every stage of creation. This week was spent soldering and finishing the 22" Trumpet Vine shade. Here is an over the shoulder shot of Irwin finishing the soldering of the interior of the shade. Once the inside is complete, a brass rim is soldered to the bottom edge of the shade. Once the soldering is complete, the shade will be cleaned and patinated.

This shade will be mated with the Twisted Vine base.

Lamp of the Week: 7" Violet

 

The 7" Violet is one of the smallest shades we create at Century Studios. Designed by Bill Campbell in 2006, this original shade design is intricately detailed, reflecting the delicate nature of the flowers it depicts. The scale of the shade is complimented by the Petite Lily Pad base (overall lamp height 16"). The individual pieces of glass in this shade are often no larger than chips - especially the flower centers. The shade shown has a variety of purple flowers and green foliage set against a pale blue background. This lamp was made in 2018 and is in a private collection.

This Week at the Studio

 

This week at Century Studios we were busy working on several projects. Bill completed the lay out for the 22" Trumpet Vine shade and the next step of foiling all the pieces began.

After days spent wrapping the edge of every piece by hand with thin strips of copper foil, Irwin transferred each piece onto the lamp form in preparation to begin the soldering. 

Our days at the studio usually involve multi tasking several projects and during the week we also completed a Square Turtleback base for a local client (10.5" height to the arms, 17" total lamp height as shown below with shade).

The bronze base has four large turtleback tiles that can be illuminated from within. The 16" Woodbine shade shown in the photo is available for purchase from our studio.

Lamp of the Week: 16" Jeweled Feather

 

 

The 16" Jeweled Feather is a hybrid Tiffany Studios shade design. While geometric in appearance, it is actually an abstract peacock feather design. The double band of jewels at the top give the shade an unexpected three dimensional quality. Created in warm greens and soft cream with green/amber accents, this shade has a calming quality. This shade can be used with a wide variety of bases and is shown on the Small Stick base. This lamp was created in 2014 as a showroom piece and is now in a private collection.

January Projects

 

We started the new year at Century Studios by finishing a couple lamp bases that were nearing completion in December, while also working on a large lamp shade. The Dragonfly Mosaic Urn base was commissioned by a local client. The green to blue glass chosen for the mosaic work has an iridized surface that catches the light.

The unusual Turtleback Band base has a central band of hand cut turtleback tiles that are illuminated from within the base.

The Turtleback Band base is a perfect base for 16" and 18" shades. Here we show it with a 16" Acorn shade we currently have in the showroom.

While completing these two bases, Bill Campbell continued working on the layout on a 22" Trumpet Vine shade for a client. For those who look at the studio background in our photos, you may wonder about the two framed certificates on the wall. These are the BFA degree certificates of Irwin Terry and Bill Campbell which we received from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 1983.

Lamp of the Week: 25" Mandarin Lotus

 

The 25" Mandarin Lotus shade is a uniquely shaped Tiffany shade. Many Tiffany lamp designs were inspired by water plants, and this pattern emulates the large round leaves of the lotus plant. The pattern of the lead lines takes its cues from the veining in the leaves, and the three dimensional accordion pleat surface brings the pattern to life. For this shade a rich amber toned glass subtly shifts to a pale butter yellow at the lower edge through the careful modulation of glass density and color. The shade is shown on the elegant Artichoke Trumpet base (28" tall version with 6 lights). This lamp was commissioned was by a local client in 2016.

 

 

18" Cobweb

 

One of our final projects completed in 2020 was this 18" Cobweb shade and Wheat Mosaic base. Our shades and bases are sold individually, and while these pieces are usually ordered as a complete lamp, this time the components were commissioned by different clients to be used with their existing shade and base.

While the Wheat Mosaic base was commissioned by a client in Pennsylvania to be used with a shade the client was making themselves, the 18" Cobweb shade was created for a client in Florida for use on their existing Wheat Mosaic base. The 18" Cobweb shade is unusual in several respects. The shade is faceted with six flattened areas, each containing a large spider web intermingled in the branches of an apple tree in blossom. A single industrious spider can be found hidden within one of the webs on the shade. Each component part of the lamp arrived and was joined with their respective counterparts.

Lamp of the Week: 28" Dragonfly

 

 Alive with movement, the 28" Dragonfly (flying diagonal) is covered in swirling dragonflies dancing across the jewel encrusted surface of the shade with rhythmic precision. Created in 1996, this shade is made almost entirely out of Lins glass with pressed glass jewels by Century Studios. The Lins Glass Foundry was located in Florida and closed more than 20 years ago. Inspired by the sheets of glass, the color pallet of the shade is a lively mix of greens, purples and deep wine red tones. Intense blue in both the glass and jewels is used as an surprising accent color throughout the piece. The shade is in a local collection.