![]() Orient & Flume also has a website where you can buy their creations. The studio, where you are able to watch some of the glass production, is open Monday through Friday and closed on weekends. They are open Monday through Saturday in the showroom from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. Located at 2161 Park Avenue in the small Northern California town of Chico, tucked back from the main road is a world-famous blown glass art studio known as “ Orient and Flume”. I have only seen the date cane in the 19 paperweights and not all of them for those years have it. This is a 1984 “Star Flower” paperweight with a OF /84 date cane. This eye-catching effect is part of what makes their vases and paperweights so valuable among glass collectors.Ī very beautiful example of the dimensional cased glass work of Orient & Flume. Over time this evolved into their current creations of three-dimensional designs within clear glass or cased glass weights. Some examples of the Tiffany or Loetz style paperweights made by Orient & Flume in the 70s and 80s. Orient & Flume’s early blown glass creations centered on recreating the iridescent glass pieces made famous by such companies as Tiffany, Steuben, and Loetz. While the body of their work is largely a riff on American art nouveau, by 1978 they were experimenting with more contemporary styles. Orient & Flume specialized in recreating the outstanding achievements of famous American companies, such as Tiffany “cypriote” glass and Steuben aurenes. The company regularly drew in other artists with various skills in working glass, including Kathy Orme (a designer who still does sand-carved glass in Chico), Lubomir Richter (a Czech-trained glass engraver who works for Steuben), Dan Shura (an ivory scrimshaw artist now living in Canada), Daniel Boone (a stained-glass artist who now has his own studio in Chico), and Bruce Sillars (a designer and glassblower employed by the company). The company was then relocated to Park Avenue in Chico where it remains to this very day. Orient & Flume’s stunning art glass creations quickly became popular and by 1973 the business had grown too large for the small carriage house. It was at this location that Douglas purchased a historic carriage house and transformed it into an art glass studio. Their first pieces were signed with a double B, indicating Boyd and Ballentine. After returning from their travels they set up their first furnace in Boyd’s backyard, which lay between Orient Street and Flume Street hence the company title. ![]() Being a world traveler myself and having lived in Europe for eight years, off and on I can relate to what a wonderful adventure and learning experience it is. I suppose their travels are a highly kept secret entered in their diaries only as I have never read about any of their experiences. After getting their master’s degrees they traveled all over Europe learning and experiencing the old techniques in glass first hand. Both had studied with Robert Fritz at San José. The company of Orient & Flume was founded in 1972 at Chico, CA, by Douglas Boyd and David Ballentine Hopper. ![]()
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