This is the second of two prototype lamps (after the Black and Pink Triangle Lantern) with which we experimented before venturing into making this new design for sale. The differences from the first prototype are substantial. First the glass sides are cut and soldered instead of solid panels. Second, the top and bottom are of cut and joined pieces of wood instead of solid slabs. Finally, the glass was wrapped with flexible capping instead of soldered, hard zinc pieces.

It was a very challenging process. The glass panels, though carefully done, did not all come out the exact same height, which made fitting the lid on a problem. Also, one of the panels was not square across the bottom and gave a lean to that side, further problematizing the final fit. We had to experiment a great deal with what size groove would accommodate the capping and solder and ended up with too loose a fit overall. We discovered, much to our surprise, that the ‘square’ pieces of glass we were purchasing from the store were not really square at every corner. Thus we were referencing unsquare corners to square up against with our cuts. We also had to experiment a lot with the width of our panels and the widths of the wood sides and in the end left too big a gap at our corners. We had never had any of these worries with our traditional designs because the wood rail-and-stile assembly method naturally hid unsquare cuts or uneven solder lines in the rabbets. This ‘lantern’ design style requires a lot more precision in the cutting and soldering of the glass.

Still, despite all these problems, we love the look of the prototype and intend to go ahead with making some that are good enough to make it to our storefront.