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Lamp Mystery Solved

8 years ago

Last November, I posted a photo of this lamp and asked for opinions on age, etc. I felt it might be old or older.



Jemdandy and Linda had some opinions but we still could not date the lamp


Today at an antique mall, the mystery is solved:



Because I found THIS!!!


The card states that it is 1880-1890




And that it was converted from oil to electric. It carried a nice price tag of $450 but it was reduced to $375.


Firstly, it did have a top and prisms (and I think more prisms than is shown on the lamp)


Secondly, the base and on/off switch are EXACTLY the same as on my lamp and it's an interesting on off for it is in the base and you press it on and off.


I'm thinking:

That it is NOT a German import

It IS handprinted (you can feel that)

It is NOT 1880-1890

It IS a late 50s or 60s repro

And my lamp DID have the same top at one time, it got broke and they converted it to a lamp that takes a shade.


Now if it is TRULY a 1880-1890 lamp, it is a twin of mine and perhaps they WERE twins and whoever converted the one converted to the other and they got separated at one time or another.


Linda -- I would appreciate your thoughts. And anyone else who wants to chime in!

Comments (10)

  • 8 years ago

    Handpainted lamp and shade? 1880's? 2 of them exactly the same? Not happening!
    There is a very slim possibility that they were a pair at one time....but the crystal drops are not at all typical for a lamp like that. Looks like someone got confused between a mantle garniture and an electric lamp that wanted to be an oil lamp....but found that electricity was easier.
    I'll bet you are right...in1 880 they were not making faux oil lamps that were electric.
    But it pretty....just not $375 pretty.

  • 8 years ago

    If that date, 1880 - 1890 is true, it would be an extremely early lamp.

    In the 1870s, Sir Joseph Swann and Thomas Edison working independently, made the first incandescent electric bulb that could last for more than a few hours. At first, only a few persons used incandescent lamps. As electric power became more widespread, usage grew to significant numbers by 1885.

    Electric arc lighting predates incandescent but was not generally used in homes. Sir Humphrey Davy made the first arc lamp in 1809.

    Based on these data, it is my opinion that electric lamps made for incandescent bulbs in homes did not exist before 1870.

  • 8 years ago

    No, the tag says it was CONVERTED. What I'm saying is that I find it hard to believe that two lamps that looked alike were CONVERTED in the same way with a push switch -- it's not a common switch. So it "started" life out as an oil lamp. NOT! I think it was 50s or 60s made to look like an oil lamp with the shade that matched the bottom. When I found the base and switch exactly the same, I wanted to leave a note attached to the lamp and correct them -- LOL! Because it is pretty and because it would look nice in a Victorian, I'm thinking $200 tops for the lamp?

  • 8 years ago

    Teehee - I like the 'very rare' designation.

    Not so rare if you have 1 that's identical, I'm thinking...

  • 8 years ago

    my two cents -- I would be amazed if those lamps were reproduced in the 50s or 60s. In the 50s they had very little regard for that period. Tiffany lamps started to be a thing in the 60s but it took a while for the craze to develop to the point that manufacturers started producing copies. And yes, those two lamps could have been handpainted and yet be almost exactly the same. The painters worked on a production line and according to a pattern. The faster you could paint the design the more you made. That being said, my opinion is worth little but it might be worth considering.

  • 8 years ago

    In the 50's faux gone with the wind lamps were a big thing. My mother had a pair....white milk glass with hand painted roses...looked like an oil lamp converted but were bought new about 1950. That stuff went with the "Early American" style of that time period.

    User thanked lindac92
  • 8 years ago

    And, Linda, a lot of them are in antique shops with hefty price tags as "electrified oil lamps". Are you thinking these might be 50s rather than 60s?


  • 8 years ago

    Even as reproductions, this pair appears to be quite nice. I don't think these were the cheap ones!

    User thanked Fori
  • 8 years ago

    I agree -- I think they were pricey when they were new -- in a GOOD furniture or lamp shop.

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