Window of the Week: Plum Blossom

The Plum Blossom window pictures a flowering branch from a plum tree in a vase. The window pictures a flowering branch from a plum tree in a vase. Three layers of plated glass were used to create the vase, and additional plating was done on the table cloth. The design on the vase was achieved by hand cutting a stencil on a piece of two layer flash glass, and then sand blasting away the thinner layer of colored glass to reveal the design. This window was created as a studio piece in 2011 and is now in a private local collection.

18" Tyler

We just completed an 18" Tyler lamp which was commissioned by a client in New Jersey. The geometric background shifts from green at the top down to lighter tones towards the bottom of the shade. The warm amber lower border rows echo the colors of the scroll, which playfully moves across the surface of the shade.

The shade is shown on the Decorated Trumpet base. Cast in bronze at our studio using molds taken from an original Tiffany Studios example, this versatile base will accommodate shades ranging in size from 16" to 20".

Lamp of the Week: 16" Daisy

The 16" Daisy Shade is a Century Studios hybrid of a Tiffany Studios shade design. The shade pattern is actually the 16" Black Eyed Susan, but for years Bill had been speculating that the pattern would look wonderful in daisy colors. In 2012 we decided to put theory into practice.

While this variation is a Century Studios' idea, it was not unusual for Tiffany Studios to change colors on an existing shade pattern to create a new design. One such example is the 22" Laburnum (when created in golden tones), and the 22" Wisteria (when created in blue tones).

The shade is shown on the Greek Urn base. We create this base at our studio using molds taken from an original Tiffany base. This piece is now in a private East Coast collection.

18" Oriental Poppy

The 18" Oriental Poppy shade is a wonderfully detailed pattern featuring exotic poppies in full bloom. Commissioned by a local client, this richly colored shade showcases a variety of red and red/orange flowers against a lush backdrop of greens and blues. The background/sky is a lively mix of blues which deepens to midnight blue and purple at the lower part of the shade. The shade is shown on the stately Library base.

 

Lamp of the Week - 18" Moorish Geometric

This Tiffany Studios shade design has a unique look that hearkens back to Louis Comfort Tiffany's earliest inspirations for interior decoration. The 18" Moorish Geometric shade can be used as a table lamp, or it can be inverted and hung as a pendant chandelier fixture. The shade is shown on the Doric Column base. We created this shade in 2009 and it is in a private collection.

Lamp of the Week: 10" Azalea

The 10" Azalea shade may be small in stature, but it packs a lot into a limited amount of space. The non-repeating design has a border which divides the shade into segments and is covered with a profusion of flowers.

The Lustre Ball Base is Century Studios' own interpretation of a rare Tiffany Studios candlestick/lamp base, and is created in our studio. The cast bronze bottom has a feeling of open airiness and sits on 16 feet, while the 16 glass balls surrounding the foot of the base add further dimension to this sculptural casting. The lustre surface of the balls reflects light, and the look is completed with two larger lustre balls incorporated into the stem. We created this example in 2011 as a showroom piece and it is in a private collection.

18" Calamondin Orange Tree Lamp

We have completed the 18" Calamondin Orange Tree lamp. This lamp is an original Century Studios lamp design by Bill Campbell (see the previous post for our design inspiration). The lamp was designed to utilize the Tiffany 18" Wisteria crown and form, and is now in a private Midwest collection.

With just under 2050 individual pieces of glass, this shade is the most complex shade we offer - the Orange Tree has more pieces than the 18" Wisteria and the 28" Laburnum.  Shades of this complexity will take close to 300 hours of production time to create. At different stages in the process, one of both of us will be working on the project.

Bill did the glass selection for this intricate shade. Many glass colors and textures were carefully considered during the layout. The finished shade features a delicate balance of ring mottled, streaky, fracture/streamer, and ripple glass to give us the effects of light and shade we wanted. The background areas were cut from an old Oceana 900 series glass - this glass has the unique property of being sparkly and transparent when lit and opaque when unlit. Unfortunately, this glass is no longer being made by Oceana.

Once the glass was completely cut and fit to the pattern, the long process of foiling each piece of glass began. Foiling is a repetitive task that requires hand-eye coordination, but can leave the artist longing to get up and do something else. To break the monotony of this task, we often listen to books on CD while foiling.

The soldering process is somewhat tricky on this style of shade. The large cast crown makes the shade top heavy, and it must be rotated and tipped while being soldered. Since molten solder runs downhill, the portion of shade being soldered must always face upwards!

The final step in the soldering process is to attach a half round copper wire which conforms to the irregular lower edge of the shade. This wire is secured in place and then soldered to form a strong lower edge for the lamp. The shade is then ready for cleaning and patination.