Designing and making objects for over a century, our heritage is our dedication to the visual environment.
Since its incorporation on December 17, 1898, the Rambusch Company has remained a small family business producing high-quality, custom-made objects and interiors to suit a wide range of clients. Over a century in existence, the Company has designed and executed more than 45,000 commissions in ecclesiastical arts, church interiors, stained glass, lighting, historic restoration, conservation, replication, art metal, and mosaic.
Tradition
Now in the hands of the fourth generation, it has always been our goal to satisfy each client’s particular needs and wants for their project, matching design with materials within the realities of each budget.
Diversity
Rambusch’s work is not limited to one specific method or medium. Commissions span genres and scales, from an Episcopal bishop’s gold and enamel ring to a stained glass window the length of a football field to a sixty-foot tall sanctuary wall sheathed in gold Venetian mosaic. Lighting projects range among state capitols, casinos, airports and the Decorative Arts Galleries of the J. Paul Getty Museum.
The Hands of the Craftsman
Whether executing to the specifications of designers and architects or developing its own submissions in-house, Rambusch fabricates for private residences, public buildings, and other spaces, both large and small.
We Make Beautiful Objects
Our design style springs from a creative process in which imaginative solutions correspond to client means. This interplay of art, design, and craft lives in the time-honored guild tradition, now a rarity in the United States. This is the distinction of every Rambusch commission.
“The company is as modern now as it was in 1900. They understand the architect’s ideas and goals. They get into all the details and have the highest levels of engineering, finish, and craftsmanship.”
Dan Shannon,
Moed de Armas & Shannon Architects
Rambusch Workshop
The craftspeople at the heart and soul of the firm have had opportunities to work in nearly every technique and medium. In all cases, this work has been completed with a collaborative spirit, continuing the age-old tradition of craft organization where artisans work together to achieve what one single individual could not.
Our five workshops are housed in a 45,000 square-foot studio. Here, forty employees from thirteen nations complete work both individually and as a team, depending on project scope. Rambusch is unique in today’s world of specialization, in that it is the firm’s particular interest to delve into a number of areas simultaneously. Ironically, it is this diversity in talent and capability that allows Rambusch to focus so intently upon the specific needs of each of its clients. Everything is made to order, and so everything is finely tuned to match the customer’s expectations.
We maintain the philosophy that great work results from close collaboration among the client, designer, and craftspeople, building upon the strengths of all three. We have always worked together with the trades, integrating design and expertise into the fabric of any architectural setting.
TIMELINE
December 17, 1898
Danish Master Painter/Decorator, Frode Christian Valdimar Rambusch establishes his business in NYC. Frode flipped a coin to decide where to begin his career: Imperial Russia or Republican America. In December 1898, Frode opened his office at 160 Fifth Avenue on the corner of 21st Street.
1898-1906
During its early years, Rambusch specialized in painted decoration, glazing, gilding, and murals.
1908-1918
Rambusch broadened its spectrum of services to include art metal and lighting fixtures, the latter in direct response to the introduction of electric illumination.
By the 1930s
With the establishment of the stained glass studio, Rambusch was designing and working in all the architectural crafts, executing commissions for institutional and domestic interiors.
1947 through February 1998
The Rambusch atelier was located in a curiously shaped seven-story tower at 40 West 13th Street. During this time, the firm got involved in restoration work, which became especially popular in the 1960s.
Today
Rambusch continues to provide services from two distinct divisions — lighting, and crafts — in art metal work, stained glass, liturgical design and liturgical furnishings, restoration, painting and decorating, and lighting. The workshops are located in Jersey City, NJ.