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Victorian Lamp Shades: Vintage Floor, Table And Oil Lamps
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Published: August 3, 2007
When imagining the Victorian era home we often envision an ornate parlor with lavish lace curtains, rich red and gold wallpaper, dark stained woodwork and mantels adorned with figurines. In the oversized sitting chair, the lady of the house is sitting with a peacock feather fan, reading Bronté by the light of a bronze based Victorian lamp with a magnificent stained glass shade of the same shape as her plumed skirt.
Victoriana, named for the rein of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1901, was a time of great political, economic, and social change.
Coinciding with these changes was an aesthetic transformation in the arts, architecture, and interior design characterized by opulence and high ornamentation with an eclectic mix of influences from the Gothic to the Far East. Technological advances, growing middle class prosperity and new materials aided in the growing interest in both interior and exterior design. Lighting was an important feature of the Victorian home, Victorian lamps were used not simply to provide reading light for the increasingly literate middle class women, but to enhance each room's distinct charm.
The early Victorian lamps were oil lamps that were fueled by whale oil until kerosene became the oil of choice after the discovery of petroleum in Pennsylvania in the later half of the 19th century. These Victorian lamps were produced in a variety of shapes and sizes. Victorian lamps can be recognized by their pedestal base with a bowl for oil atop, followed by a metal chamber where the wick is held tight, which is housed at the base of the funnel shaped chimney. Some Victorian oil lamps were more functional and portable, with a clear glass chimney and no surrounding facade, while other Victorian lamps were highly stylized with plated bases and bowls and a blown colored glass and hand painted shades surrounding the chimney. The simplicity of this style of Victorian lamp's mechanical elements allowed manufacturers then and today to pay greater attention to the lamp's artistry.
Shortly after Thomas Edison became a household name in America for the invention of the light bulb in 1879, the household name for the Victorian electric lamp was Louis Comfort Tiffany, the first to design Victorian lamps for use with light bulbs. The classic Tiffany look is distinguished by the brass base and elaborate stained glass shade of various shapes and hues, often with dazzling brass or metallic filaments.
Another feature of the Victorian home was his and her bedrooms and distinct gender specific rooms or spaces. In the library, a room associated with men and business, the Gothic influenced Victorian lamps or specifically a Tiffany table lamp might have had a squared glass shade in muted blues and greens. Straight lines in all interior ornamentation, up to and including Victorian lamps, were considered masculine and deemed appropriate for men's spaces. The lady's parlor might have had both floor and table Victorian lamps used for both function and mood. Table lamps were essential to illuminate her novelties on the table or mantel, called clustering. Glass shade designs on Victorian lamps were considered feminine and appropriate for women's spaces, and often included flowers, exotic birds, and dragonflies. Other common shades for Victorian lamps were made of Eastern textiles in rich hues with cascading fringes or shadow casting art glass.
The use of Victorian lamps for the contemporary home need not conform to the gender specificity of Victoriana nor be used for spotlighting one's parlor sideboard with a traditional Victorian clustering of ornate trinkets—perhaps considered more akin to clutter in today's modern home. Victorian lamps, floor lamps and accessories, like the Tiffany art glass shades and bronze lamps, are still very much in production and can be purchased online or in major retailers. Victorian style lighting can be found in use with interior designs ranging from Danish design and modern to country and colonial. Why not set an elegant red Victorian table lamp with fringed art glass on a honey stained teak side table with sleek lines and limited ornamentation? How about a Victorian lamp, like a simple oil lamp on a table at the summer cabin? Retail Victorian style floor lamps start at $100 and table lamps start at $50, while the classic functional oil lamp (both for use with kerosene or a light bulb) can be purchased for as little as $15.
If vintage Victorian lamps are preferred over modern Victorian-style lamps, there are antique dealers who peruse flea markets and thrift stores for Victorian lamps and shades, perhaps castaways after thirty years in a dank attic. Experts can meticulously restore Victorian lamps to their earlier splendor, and many antique Victorian lamps have been converted from kerosene or oil for use with electric light bulbs. They are works of art after all, so do not expect retail prices for a restored original Tiffany Victorian lamp, which can cost anywhere from $300 to $10,000 for rare pieces, depending on the collection, style, and demand.
Sources:
Period Style: Victorian (1837-1901). BBC.Co.Uk. 17 June 2007. http://www.bbc.co.uk/homes/design/period_victorian .shtml
Vintage Shades and Antique Lamps. 17 June 2007. http://www.vintageshades.com
Leopold, Alison Kyle. Cherished Objects: Living with and Collecting Victoriana. New York, NY: Clarkson N. Potter, Inc., 1991.
Mace, Henry O. Collector's Guide to Victoriana. Randor, PA: Wallace-Homestead, 1991.
Plante, Ellen M. The Victorian Home: The Grandeur and Comforts of the Victorian Era, in Households Past and Present. Philadelphia PA.: Running Press, 1995.
Victoriana, named for the rein of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1901, was a time of great political, economic, and social change.
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The early Victorian lamps were oil lamps that were fueled by whale oil until kerosene became the oil of choice after the discovery of petroleum in Pennsylvania in the later half of the 19th century. These Victorian lamps were produced in a variety of shapes and sizes. Victorian lamps can be recognized by their pedestal base with a bowl for oil atop, followed by a metal chamber where the wick is held tight, which is housed at the base of the funnel shaped chimney. Some Victorian oil lamps were more functional and portable, with a clear glass chimney and no surrounding facade, while other Victorian lamps were highly stylized with plated bases and bowls and a blown colored glass and hand painted shades surrounding the chimney. The simplicity of this style of Victorian lamp's mechanical elements allowed manufacturers then and today to pay greater attention to the lamp's artistry.
Shortly after Thomas Edison became a household name in America for the invention of the light bulb in 1879, the household name for the Victorian electric lamp was Louis Comfort Tiffany, the first to design Victorian lamps for use with light bulbs. The classic Tiffany look is distinguished by the brass base and elaborate stained glass shade of various shapes and hues, often with dazzling brass or metallic filaments.
Another feature of the Victorian home was his and her bedrooms and distinct gender specific rooms or spaces. In the library, a room associated with men and business, the Gothic influenced Victorian lamps or specifically a Tiffany table lamp might have had a squared glass shade in muted blues and greens. Straight lines in all interior ornamentation, up to and including Victorian lamps, were considered masculine and deemed appropriate for men's spaces. The lady's parlor might have had both floor and table Victorian lamps used for both function and mood. Table lamps were essential to illuminate her novelties on the table or mantel, called clustering. Glass shade designs on Victorian lamps were considered feminine and appropriate for women's spaces, and often included flowers, exotic birds, and dragonflies. Other common shades for Victorian lamps were made of Eastern textiles in rich hues with cascading fringes or shadow casting art glass.
The use of Victorian lamps for the contemporary home need not conform to the gender specificity of Victoriana nor be used for spotlighting one's parlor sideboard with a traditional Victorian clustering of ornate trinkets—perhaps considered more akin to clutter in today's modern home. Victorian lamps, floor lamps and accessories, like the Tiffany art glass shades and bronze lamps, are still very much in production and can be purchased online or in major retailers. Victorian style lighting can be found in use with interior designs ranging from Danish design and modern to country and colonial. Why not set an elegant red Victorian table lamp with fringed art glass on a honey stained teak side table with sleek lines and limited ornamentation? How about a Victorian lamp, like a simple oil lamp on a table at the summer cabin? Retail Victorian style floor lamps start at $100 and table lamps start at $50, while the classic functional oil lamp (both for use with kerosene or a light bulb) can be purchased for as little as $15.
If vintage Victorian lamps are preferred over modern Victorian-style lamps, there are antique dealers who peruse flea markets and thrift stores for Victorian lamps and shades, perhaps castaways after thirty years in a dank attic. Experts can meticulously restore Victorian lamps to their earlier splendor, and many antique Victorian lamps have been converted from kerosene or oil for use with electric light bulbs. They are works of art after all, so do not expect retail prices for a restored original Tiffany Victorian lamp, which can cost anywhere from $300 to $10,000 for rare pieces, depending on the collection, style, and demand.
Sources:
Period Style: Victorian (1837-1901). BBC.Co.Uk. 17 June 2007. http://www.bbc.co.uk/homes/design/period_victorian .shtml
Vintage Shades and Antique Lamps. 17 June 2007. http://www.vintageshades.com
Leopold, Alison Kyle. Cherished Objects: Living with and Collecting Victoriana. New York, NY: Clarkson N. Potter, Inc., 1991.
Mace, Henry O. Collector's Guide to Victoriana. Randor, PA: Wallace-Homestead, 1991.
Plante, Ellen M. The Victorian Home: The Grandeur and Comforts of the Victorian Era, in Households Past and Present. Philadelphia PA.: Running Press, 1995.
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