At Century Studios, we have been creating stained glass shades since 1986 and have been producing our own line of lamp bases for over 20 years. In the past, we would visit our foundry every 8 to 12 weeks to drop off waxes and pick up raw bronzes to bring back to the studio for finishing. During that time, we were able to work on metalwork casually between stained glass projects. In the past two years our base work has increased to the point where we are now spending equal amounts of time on bronze bases and stained glass shades. We are now visiting the foundry every 2 to 4 weeks. The increase in orders for bases means that we have had to adjust the way we schedule projects to include dedicated studio time for wax work and bronze finishing. The above photo shows the mold and wax for a Shell Urn base that is currently at the foundry. This base sits up on three feet which are molded and cast separately, then attached to the body of the base.
We recently completed this Dragonfly Mosaic Urn base for a client in Canada. Bill Campbell does all the cutting, fitting and application of the glass mosaic to the bronze casting. It is intricate, painstaking work that takes him a week to complete. The glass chosen for the mosaic tiles starts with blue at the top and transitions to green at the bottom. The glass has a shimmering iridescent luster surface that catches the light from all angles.
