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.
 This is a leaded lampshade. Leaded
glass lampshades are much less common than copper
foiled ones because a leaded shade is constructed flat, then bent into
its final shape (pure lead being a very soft, bendable metal). This
requires wrestling with the mathematics, and also involves the skill of
bending and joining the sections in a fluid manner such that the "seam"
is indistinguishable from the rest of the shade. It was fortunate that
when I started working in glass as a child, the uncle who got me
started in stained glass had been taught the skills involved in
producing leaded shades, and passed those along to me. The major
advantage of leading a shade is the uniformity of line that is achieved
with the pre-formed lead, as opposed to copper foil, which can never be
as uniform even when the cutting of the glass is very precise. Also,
many copper foil shades nowadays are store-bought kits, although that
does not imply that they are simple to do. There are no kits for making
leaded shades (that I have ever heard of). |
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