The Dining Room Fixture and Tiffany Shades

When we first moved into the Tiny Bungalow, this was our dining room light fixture.

I didn't like it from the moment I laid eyes on it and it was one of the many glaring "errors" in the home.  The swooping arms, faux frosted candles and a brushed nickel finish that should have been outlawed back in the 1990's were all wrong for this house.  It has since found a home, appropriately, in my sister's ca. 1980 suburban ranch.  What I always liked and what always seemed right for the room was a fixture that hung low, like one of Stickley's "shower lights".  In most versions, the light fixtures hang from a series of chains, just above the surface of the table, lighting the table surface but not so much the room around it.  In traditional Craftsman homes, these artistic fixtures that provided concentrated pools of light, leaving many parts of the room in elusive shadow, was a defining characteristic. 

Our fixture is a variation on the shower light idea and was manufactured by Rejuvenation.  For years, it hung in the dining room, slightly off-kilter with the bubble wrap still protecting the base and finial.  It looked ridiculous but still better than the brushed nickel nightmare that was there before.  A key element of the fixture has also been missing until now.  In Stickley's version, the light shades were typically well crafted min-lanterns or hand blown art glass by a company like Tiffany or Steuben.  Ours had $2.59 frosted shades from the Home Depot.     

Several months ago, when I started contemplating the dining and living room renovations, I started looking for hand blown shades that would be more appropriate for the room.  Many of the light companies these for a small fortune.  When it came down to it, I wanted something that was artisan-made, preferably by a local artisan and something that I could afford.  Shelling out another $600.00 for shades was not in the cards.  I eventually came across Redington Glass Furnaces while looking online.  It was perfect.  Jay Redington's studio is a short drive north to Wisconsin and from the selection on his website, it seemed that he could do just about anything I wanted. 

I was very curious about how the shades were made and Jay was kind enough to let me come up and see his shop and see his work.  It was remarkable.  In an unassuming shed of a building, just outside a small town in Wisconsin, he creates all sorts of amazing things.  The shelves of art glass lamp shades would make anyone with an Arts & Crafts style home drool.  He also makes all sorts of tiles, vases and other household items.  He learned his trade by working at a local museum.  In addition to the objects he makes, he also is commissioned for restoration projects.  Notably, he recently manufactured the glass that was installed at the horizontal mortar joints in Frank Lloyd Wright's Park Inn Hotel in Mason City.    There are several videos online so you can see Jay in action.

The glass shades that we chose are the blue trumpet shades.  I finished installing the fixture yesterday and the final product looks great.  The glass is a favrile glass; an iridescent glass invented by Louis Comfort Tiffany.  Jay was great to deal with and if you are in the market for shades like these, I couldn't recommend is work more.   

As I mentioned earlier, the shades allow a bright concentrated light on the surface of the table but leave a lot of the rest of the room in shadow.  Items on the table look great but this has created a sort of dilemma for me.  I still want some ambient light in the rest of the room.  To accomplish this, hope to install crossbeam lights.  For now, we are using area lamps.

The shades are individual works of art so the color and shape have slight variation from light to light.  It creates the perfect centerpiece in the room.  Once I complete the painting above the picture rail, adding  additional glues and golds, I think it will be perfect. 

Getting My Arts and Crafts Fix

When ever I mention my appreciation for arts & crafts to someone, I often get an odd look. I immediately imagine a bubble forming over their head with an image of an animal made out of pipe cleaners, a birdhouse made with Popsicle sticks, or a fabric-painted cartoon sweatshirt. Mmm.. …no.

An odd thing is that I get this confused reaction more from the people I know in Central New York than in any other place where I mention it. Little do most CNYers realize, with Stickley Furniture, Robineau Pottery, and the architectural practice of Ward Wellington Ward, their home was once a cultural center with a great number of individuals focused on the Arts & Crafts movement. In addition to these local purveyors of the movement, many local patrons worked with people from other parts of the country and masterworks from people like John LaFarge, Louis Comfort Tiffany, Frank Lloyd Wright and countless others dot the Upstate NY landscape.

Obviously, the "Arts & Crafts" that I am talking about includes things like mortise and tenon joinery, natural wood, art glass, fine pottery. Since my fellow housebloggers detest this kind of stuff (ha ha), I apologize in advance for boring you with some pics.

Unfortunately, while in Buffalo, we did not get to visit many of my favorite Arts & Crafts landmarks there. I did do my ritualistic drive by all of the Silsbee homes there but that is about it. Incidentally, I am always prepared to drive by and find one torn down. Buffalo might have been a bust but I did have some time to do a bit of sightseeing while visiting Syracuse.
On our way into Syracuse, we stopped in to see the Willard Memorial Chapel. I have known about this place for some time but have not taken the time to see it. This is a perfect place to go touring with a 3 year old! (sarcasm). While I ogled at the art glass, fine lighting fixtures, exquisite tile and stencil work, my daughter danced around the chapel nave singing a song from one of her favorite TV shows. I thought it was hilarious. I am not sure that the other tourists felt the same.Supposedly this is the only intact Tiffany designed chapel. We have also visited the chapel designed for the Worlds Columbian Exposition, parts of which are on display in Winter Park, FL. This one is as nice and in some ways more impressive. It is a remarkable place (understatement) and a must see for anyone driving in the vicinity of Auburn, NY.
We stayed in Syracuse our final weekend of the vacation and on Saturday I took some time to visit the new Stickley museum. Holy crap this place was cool and it really surprised me. While growing up, the old Stickley factory was used as an outlet store for the company. I don’t exactly remember what shape it was in then but it has recently been converted into the Fayetteville Public Library. The second floor of the factory is now home to the Stickley Museum - Incredible!I was told that only about 10% of their collection was on view at the moment. It was great – an exhibit of furniture from 1901 through the present that included highlights like Gustav’s own personal bedroom set and pieces owned by Barbra Streisand. It showed me a lot that I didn’t know about the company and the various designs. Like the chapel, this too is well worth the trip to anyone that is in the area. I didn’t get the overdose of architectural sites I had hoped for but all in all, it was a nice vacation.