Earlier this year, Odyssey Lamp Systems ceased producing their line of reproduction Tiffany lamp bases and metalwork. We have carried the Odyssey line of bases at Century Studios since we opened in 1986. With the demise of the Odyssey line, we now manufacture all the bases we offer.
In February 2000, Willy Disselhoff, an independent Tiffany reproduction lamp base maker, retired and the base molds we acquired from Studio Disselhoff became the core of our Century Studios line of metalwork. For the past 20 years we have added to our line of in-house bases using “Willy” molds in addition to making molds of our own.
Our bronze bases are cast using a lost wax process, and hours of hand work are needed to create each individual component. To begin the process, foundry wax is poured into a rubber mold. After hand cleaning the waxes, we take them to a local bronze foundry where each piece is coated in a ceramic shell mixture that hardens to create a new mold. The “shell” is heated, the wax melts out, and molten bronze is poured into each mold. Once cooled, the ceramic shell is broken away to reveal the raw bronze part. Each wax and ceramic shell produces only one piece of bronze which is then hand tooled and finished. Many bases also have spun copper and machined brass elements.
Several of our bases have specialty components, such as illuminated turtleback tiles and hand applied glass mosaic. Making a bronze lamp base often takes as much time (and in some cases more) as making the shades these bases support.
In addition to our bases, Century Studios is now manufacturing the reproduction metalwork needed to make our shades. We have made these parts available to other lamp makers.
Recently, we have completed many lamp bases for our showroom and for client commissions. We sell bases separately from shades, and bases may be ordered individually. All of our reproduction lamp bases are pictured on our website: https://centurystudios.com/gallery/more/lamp-bases
