About Michael Ashford

What started out in 1988 as a one man shop has had, at one time, four employees but is now down to Michael Ashford (the founder) and Scott Swayze, who has been with Michael for 15 years. In 1996 our new studio was built and in the fall of 2004 we added an additional 500 square feet to the building. We continue to expand our stock line of lighting as we respond to the needs and desires of our clients.

Much of our workload involves custom fixtures and we encourage clients to participate in the design process. Our one-on-one approach and attention to detail are two factors that separate us from our competition. We invite you to experience the satisfaction of owning hand hammered copper lighting that will stand the test of time and be proudly handed down from generation to generation.


What started out in 1988 as a one man shop has had, at one time, four employees but is now down to Michael Ashford (the founder) and Scott Swayze, who has been with Michael for 15 years. In 1996 our new studio was built and in the fall of 2004 we added an additional 500 square feet to the building. We continue to expand our stock line of lighting as we respond to the needs and desires of our clients. Much of our workload involves custom fixtures and we encourage clients to participate in the design process. Our one-on-one approach and attention to detail are two factors that separate us from our competition. We invite you to experience the satisfaction of owning hand hammered copper lighting that will stand the test of time and be proudly handed down from generation to generation.
	Michael Ashford and Scott Swayze in the studio
Here is the lamp shade up close. What you can’t see are the 32 copper clips soldered to the inside of the shade that hold the molded mica panels in place. What you can see are the details of the faceted texture of the copper, the many rivets used to construct the shade and the beauty of our mineral mica panels. There is mica and then there is our mica; rich, textural, looking like antique mica of 100 years ago.
In this photo, notice how the top two cones are actually ‘smithed’ into trumpet shaped sections with gently curving sides. Also notice that the four sockets have been stripped of their lacquer, copper plated and then patinated to match the chestnut brown of the lamp.
This photo shows the lamp’s base with its beautiful hammered texture. These two base components started out life as flat sheets of 18 gauge copper and were ‘smithed’ into the bottom bowl section and the trumpet section. The two pieces are joined together with 16 copper rivets that are both beautiful and structural in nature. Inside the base is a steel weight to help anchor the lamp to the floor. Like all of our lighting, this lamp has been given a rich chestnut brown patina. The above two articles are in PDF format and will take several minutes to load. Please be patient.