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Colonial Metalcrafts makes its Georgian Outdoor Wall Light in blackened copper to order.
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Jason Fredrick and the artisans of Colonial Metalcrafts pay homage to craftsmen of the past through each lantern they craft for Shades of Light.
“We build everything by hand, from start to finish,” says Fredrick, the production manager for Shades of Light. “We cut, fold and solder copper and brass, cut our own glass and hand-finish each piece. We are human-powered here.”
Fredrick, the former head of Colonial Metalcrafts, sold the family-owned company to Shades of Light in 2013. The business has gone from an independent company to a collection of products fabricated by Shades of Light.
Colonial Metalcrafts made a line of fixtures for Shades of Light before it became part of the company. “We developed the line with Shades of Light. Forty to 50% of our business was supplying fixtures to Shades of Light,” Fredrick says.
The process starts with either 3-by-8-foot or 3-by-10-foot sheets of copper and/or brass. The sheets are cut into squares or strips — anything that doesn’t require a straight edge is cut using heavy-duty scissors — then run through a roller for shaping and sanded by hand. Lanterns can take five to five and a half hours to craft from start to finish.
“There is a lot of demand,” Fredrick says. “We are currently working through how best to handle our growing volume of business.”
“The bench-made, handcrafted lanterns are extremely popular. They are sold nationwide, and we sell into the thousands,” says Shades of Light CEO Bryan Johnson. “We have 83 unique designs, and people can choose which one they want on the website. Each of those can come in anywhere from one to three different finishes.”
Colonial Metalcrafts is one of only a few companies in the U.S. that make lanterns by hand. “There aren’t a lot," Fredrick says. “There are companies in New England, South Carolina, Louisiana and New Jersey.”
Shades of Light’s production department, which includes Colonial Metalcrafts’ artisans, is the longest-tenured group of employees at the company. “They range from five to seven years’ average tenure ... and love what they do," Fredrick says.
