Holiday Hours

 

Century Studios

will be closed

Sunday Dec 22 through Wednesday Jan 1

We will resume regular business hours

on Thursday January 2

Studio Hours and Lamp of the Week

The 28" Poinsettia is the largest reproduction Tiffany Studios poinsettia shade we make. This generously proportioned shade has a non repeating pattern and is the perfect showcase for a variety of rich red glasses. This naturalistic shade was originally designed as a chandelier cone, but can also be used as a large table lamp or on a Junior Floor base. This example was commissioned in 2009 by a Midwest client.

Century Studios will be open regular business hours now through

Saturday December 21

We will be closed

Sunday December 22 through Wednesday January 1

We will resume regular business hours on Thursday January 2

20" Azalea

The 20" Azalea has a modified Turban shape that is densely covered with intertwining branches, leaves and flowers.

In addition to the imaginative glass selections, Tiffany Studios always found ways to surprise and engage viewers with their lamps. Some shades incorporated jewels or filigree. The open flowers on the 20" Azalea are enhanced with beads of sculpted solder. The beads are employed to represent the stamens of the flowers, giving the shade a lively three dimensional quality.

Velvety red flowers with hints of fuchsia abundantly cover the shade. Woody stems and fresh green leaves create a lush tangle worthy of the thicket that surrounded Sleeping Beauty's castle. The background shifts from a light grey/blue down to green, adding fullness to the design.

The shade is shown on the Bird Skeleton base (26.5" tall), an organic base that mimics the branch work in the shade. This shade was commissioned by a client and is now in their private collection.

Lamp of the Week: 18" Poinsettia

Traditionally considered to be a decorative seasonal plant, poinsettias were a favorite subject for Tiffany Studios lamp designs and appear on multiple sizes of shades. The 18" Poinsettia shade has a wide band of flowering plants on the lower half of the shade with a prominent trellis above. For this shade, bold tones of blue, green, and red are combined to dramatic effect. The shade is shown on the elegant Library base (22.5" tall). The lamp was created for a client in Massachusetts in 2017.

 

Bonus Lamp of the Week: 16" Poinsettia

While several projects near completion, here is a bonus Lamp of the Week.

The 16" Poinsettia presents the exuberant plant in a formal, stylized way that still conveys the playfulness of the flowers. The wide floral band is bookmarked by warm yellow geometric tiles that have a hint of green. The shade is shown on the Small Stick base (20" tall). We created this lamp over 15 years ago and is in a private collection.

Lamp of the Week: 22" Poinsettia

The 22" Poinsettia shade (often referred to as the Double Poinsettia) is covered in large expressive flowers that are barely contained by a formal trellis. This shade has a blended coloration where different colors with the same tone are used throughout. When viewed from a distance the shade appears to be one tone, but as the viewer approaches, the individual colors intensify and stand out from one another.

Set against a mottled celadon green background and a warm amber trellis, the flowers are a combination of complimentary orange tones. The orange is deceiving however, because the flowers actually have been skillfully blended from glasses that include orange, amber, pink, red, and yellow. Commissioned in 2020 by a client in Arizona, the shade is shown on the Twisted Vine base (25.5" tall).

This Week in the Studio

With multiple projects being worked on, the Thanksgiving holiday, and our furnace dying just as the temperatures have begun to really drop, this past week has been quite hectic and busy. Our landlord is tending to the furnace while we added layers of clothing. In Minnesota it takes more than cold weather to slow things down!

We have been working steadily on a 20" Azalea, an intricate pattern with many small pieces. Bill Campbell and Irwin Terry are shown foiling a section of the shade. What you don't see is the nearby space heater.

Once the shade was completely foiled, Bill worked on transferring the pieces onto the waxed lamp form while Irwin began the layout for our next shade.

Our recent trip to the foundry also gave us many bronze castings to work on. These are just a few of the castings we are preparing for finishing.

Holiday Hours

 

Century Studios Holiday Hours

Thursday November 28 - Closed

Friday November 29 through Saturday December 21 - Regular Hours

Sunday December 22 through Wednesday January 1 - Closed

Thursday January 2 - Resume Regular Hours

12" Dogwood

Flowering dogwood was one of Tiffany Studios' favorite subjects for lamps and they created dogwood shades in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. The 12" Dogwood is a compact shade covered in blooms. We chose various shades of pinks for the flowers and a delicate fracture/streamer glass for the sky to keep the shade light and airy. This shade was created for a client in New York is shown on the beautifully detailed Chinese base (16" tall).

Lamp of the Week: 20" Poppy

The 20" Poppy is one of Tiffany Studios' most popular lamp patterns. Ascending from a horizontal band of leaves, the flowers and buds rise up on slender stems represented by the vertical lead lines to fill the upper two thirds of the shade. The addition of metal filigree overlays on the flower centers and leaves give the shade added depth.

A rich amber/orange glass tinged with red and blue was chosen for the background of the shade. The flowers are a combination of reds, deep fuchsia pinks, and purples. Hints of teal in the flower centers, leaves and buds enhance the lush tones of the shade, while the olive green chosen for the borders grounds the design. The shade is shown on the elegant Library base (23.5" tall). We created this lamp in 2020 and it is now in a local collection.

14" Peony

The 14" Peony is a compact shade with a large personality. Covered in large flowers and lush foliage, this pattern cries out for bold colors and textured glasses.

Heavily textured pink and red glasses enhance the flower's playful interaction with the verdant foliage. The lightly textured background dramatically shifts from sunny yellow to deep blue. The use of textures throughout the shade draw the viewer closer, creating an almost irresistible urge to experience the lamp through touch as well as sight.

The shade has been paired with the Penguin Foot w/Arms base. This lamp has been sold and is in a private collection in Texas.

Lamp of the Week: 22" Zodiac

Zodiac symbols were a popular design feature that adorned many items created by Tiffany Studios including mosaic panels, desk set items and lamps. The 22" Zodiac represents each of the twelve zodiac symbols with a brass filigree medallion. Additional decorative filigree medallions adorn the surface of the shade and each section of the shade has a large round turtleback tile.

For this shade the rope borders are a fiery amber tone and the areas inside each of these bordered vignettes is a lively mix of blue, yellow and green. The background areas are a rosy mixed purple giving the completed shade has a warm, friendly glow. The shade is pictured on the Large Lion's Foot base (28" tall). This lamp was created in 2022 and is now in a collection in North Carolina.

Spider Lamp

The 15" Spider is one of our most popular small lamps. Tiffany Studios originally labeled this shade Plain with Heavy Ribs for Base 337 (on their price lists "plain" is Tiffany-speak for geometric, base 337 is the Mushroom) but the inspiration for this design is obviously a long legged spider sitting atop its web in a garden. The cast bronze spider gives the shade a tactile thee dimensional look which is accentuated by the irregular lower edge.

The glass chosen for this shade dramatically shifts from green to deep amber. Original examples of this shade are almost always mated with the highly detailed Mushroom base (17" height) as indicated on the original price listing for the shade. This lamp was created for a client in Connecticut.
 

Lamp of the Week: 14" Chestnut

The 14" Chestnut is an original Century Studios shade pattern designed by Bill Campbell. The celadon green sky is tinged with peach, setting off the multi-toned green foliage and the pink and white flowers. Created in 2015 and now in a private collection, the shade is shown on the Shell Urn base (17" tall).

16" Peacock Feathr

We recently completed a 16" Peacock Feather lamp for a client in New Jersey. The shade is shown on the distinctive Bell Pepper base. A strong amber tone at the top of the shade quickly shifts through emerald green and then to blue. These colors are reflected in the peacock "eyes" that encircle the lower portion of the shade.

This boldly conceived Tiffany shade design combines a naturalistic peacock feather pattern with the repetitive symmetry of a geometric shade. The dome shaped shade has a flat surface, but the pattern produces the optical illusion that the surface is accordion pleated.

Lamp of the Week: 22" Turtleback

This 22" Turtleback Turban has a deep, brooding personality. The heavily mottled, richly colored red & green glass of the upper and lower geometric portions of the shade are the perfect backdrop for the band of black cherry colored turtlebacks. This distinctive shade is shown on the popular Perforated base (26" tall, telescopes taller). The addition of the corkscrew "pigtail" cap adds the finishing touch to this large table lamp. This lamp was created in 2018 and is in a private local collection.

Lamp of the Week - 18" Clematis and Studio Hours

The 18" Clematis is a beautifully designed Tiffany shade covered in large flowers. The shade has a non repeating pattern. We chose a wide variety of purples and blues for the flowers which are set against a green fracture glass background. In addition to ring mottled and streaky glass, rippled glass appears throughout the shade in the flowers, leaves, and flower centers. The shade is shown on the Small Stick base (20" tall). This lamp was created in 2017 is in a private local collection.

Studio Hours - Century Studios will be closed Saturday October 26 through Monday October 28. We will resume regular business hours on Tuesday October 29.

18" Oriental Poppy

We have completed the 18" Oriental Poppy lamp for our client in California. Red and orange poppy flowers with striking blue centers playfully cavort across the surface of the shade. Lush green foliage bursts forth from rich soil while the textured horizontal border rows provide structure to this colorful garden.

To complete the lamp, our client chose the Lummis base. The simplicity of the base compliments the highly detailed shade.

Lamp of the Week: 16" Turtleback

A classic Tiffany Studios design, the 16" Turtleback shade features a band of hand cut "turtleback" tiles against a geometric ground. The simplicity of the design is enhanced by the jewel like quality of the turtleback band. The shade is perfectly complimented by the Square Turtleback base which is illuminated from within. This lamp was created in 2014 and was acquired at that time by a West Coast client.

18" Oriental Poppy, Part 1

We have been making progress on an 18" Oriental Poppy shade for a client. Here is one section on the light table. The unusual spaces in the pattern are there so the pieces will fit snugly together when placed onto the dome shaped form.

Bill Campbell is busy foiling a section of the lamp.

For this shade, the section is repeated three times. 

Once all the pieces have been foiled, Irwin Terry transfers them one by one onto a Fiberglas lamp form that has been coated with our house made tacky wax. 

After all the pieces were fit onto the form, Irwin began soldering the shade. The completed lamp will be shown on a later post.

Lamp of the Week: 14" Arrowhead

The 14" Arrowhead is a compact shade that works well as an accent or bedside table lamp. Because of its stylized look, at first glance this Tiffany Studios design appears to be an abstract interpretation of natural subject when in fact it is a factual representation of a flowering water plant. Due to the distinctive shape of its leaves, the Arrowhead plant was a favorite motif of Arts & Crafts era designers and has become commonly known as "Arrowroot", a completely different species of plant that bears no physical resemblance to the plant depicted on the shade. The shade is shown on the Zodiac base (total lamp height 17"). This lamp was commissioned by a local client in 2020.

The lightly mottled green glass chosen for the leaves is gently streaked with amber yellow. The blue toned sky plays against the hints of red mixed with green in the lower background. Green upper and lower border rows tie all of the colors together, while the white flowers with bright yellow centers give the shade a pop of color.

 

18" Oak Leaf

The 18" Oak Leaf is a generously proportioned shade with a wide border of swirling leaves and acorns. Shown on the Decorated Library w/Arms base (total lamp height 25.5"), this impressive lamp is currently available for purchase from our studio showroom.

Note: Since posting, this lamp has sold and is no longer available.

The glass for this shade is a richly mottled, two toned woody amber that is cozy and welcoming. Culled from our extensive glass library, the glass used for this shade is from a line called Circa 1900 which was made by the Youghiogheny Glass Company and has been discontinued for years.

The decorative band is bookended between upper and lower sections of formal geometric glass tiles. Arranged in formal vignettes around the shade, the swirling symmetry of the leaves and acorns evokes the changing of the seasons. 

The shade can be used with an number of different lamp bases and is shown here on the elegant Library base (22.5" tall). 

Lamp of the Week: 17" Bat Variation

The 17" Bat - 6 Bat Variation shade has six bats clustered in flight. This shade is a variation on the 17" Bat lamp which features three bats flying against a night sky. Tiffany Studios created this variation by filling the sky portions of the standard three bat shade with additional bat bodies. When viewed from above, the wing tips of the six bats are intertwined in a kaleidoscopic effect.. Due to the extra bats vying for attention, this shade has almost no sky showing and the there are no stars present. The shade is shown on the Bat Stemmed Mosaic base (18" tall).  This lamp was commissioned by a client in North Carolina in 2015.

New Metalwork

Century Studios is pleased to introduce several new pieces to our line of reproduction bases and metalwork. 

Tiffany Studios designed three caps to go with the Bamboo Bases. With the addition of the 3" Bamboo Cap we now offer a full range of  Bamboo Caps and Bases. The three cap sizes are: 3" Bamboo (pictured right in the photo), 5" Bamboo (pictured left), and 6" (pictured top). All three caps are lost wax cast and are heavy, detailed castings.

These caps give the finishing touch to our selection of reproduction Tiffany bamboo lamp bases. The bases include (from left to right) the small Bamboo Table base (23" tall) for 16" shades. The large Bamboo Table base (27" tall) for 22" to 24" shades. The Bamboo Junior Floor base (60" tall, permanent 5" wheel) for 22" to 24" shades. The Bamboo Senior Floor base (64" tall, permanent 6"wheel) for 24" to 28" shades.

We are also pleased to introduce a new base to our line, the Decorated Trumpet with Arms. This is an elaborate variation of the Decorated Trumpet base. This base has an armset that holds an 18" shade.

The Decorated Trumpet (pictured left) is 22" tall. The Decorated Trumpet w/arms (pictured right) is 18" to the arms (total lamp height will vary depending on the shade).