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Finding the Right Table-lamps for You
Well-crafted antique and vintage table lamps do more than provide light; the right fixture-and-table combination can add a focal point or creative element to any interior.
Proper table lamps have long been used for lighting our most intimate spaces. Perfect for lighting your nightstand or reading nook, table lamps play an integral role in styling an inviting room. In the years before electricity, lamps used oil. Today, a rewired 19th-century vintage lamp can still provide a touch of elegance for a study.
After industrial milestones such as mass production took hold in the Victorian era, various design movements sought to bring craftsmanship and innovation back to this indispensable household item. Lighting designers affiliated with Art Deco, which originated in the glamorous roaring ’20s, sought to celebrate modern life by fusing modern metals with dark woods and dazzling colors in the fixtures of the era. The geometric shapes and gilded details of vintage Art Deco table lamps provide an air of luxury and sophistication that never goes out of style.
After launching in 1934, Anglepoise lamps soon became a favorite among modernist architects and designers, who interpreted the fixture as “a machine for lighting,” just as Le Corbusier had reimagined the house as “a machine for living in.” The popular task light owed to a collaboration between a vehicle-suspension engineer by the name of George Carwardine and a West Midlands springs manufacturer, Herbert Terry & Sons.
Some mid-century modern table lamps, particularly those created by the likes of Joe Colombo and the legendary lighting artisans at Fontana Arte, bear all the provocative hallmarks associated with Space Age design. Sculptural and versatile, the Louis Poulsen table lamps of that period were revolutionary for their time and still seem innovative today.
If you are looking for something more contemporary, industrial table lamps are demonstrative of a newly chic style that isn’t afraid to pay homage to the past. They look particularly at home in any rustic loft space amid exposed brick and steel beams.
Before you buy a desk lamp or table lamp for your living room, consider your lighting needs. The Snoopy lamp, designed in 1967, or any other “banker’s lamp” (shorthand for the Emeralite desk lamps patented by H.G. McFaddin and Company), provides light at a downward angle that is perfect for writing, while the Fontana table lamp and the beloved Grasshopper lamp by Greta Magnusson-Grossman each yield a soft and even glow. Some table lamps require lampshades to be bought separately.
Whether it’s a classic antique Tiffany table lamp, a Murano glass table lamp or even a bold avant-garde fixture custom-made by a contemporary design firm, the right table lamp can completely transform a room. Find the right one for you on 1stDibs.
- 1stDibs ExpertAugust 8, 2024Yes, Tiffany lamps and Tiffany jewelry are related. Tiffany & Co. was established in Connecticut in 1837 by Charles Lewis Tiffany and John B. Young. Charles had launched the company’s famed catalogue, the Blue Book, and, with it, the firm’s signature robin’s-egg blue in 1845. In 1853, Tiffany and Young shifted their focus to fine jewelry. At the start of the Gilded Age, in 1870, Tiffany & Co. opened its flagship store at 15 Union Square West in Manhattan. While Tiffany & Co. gained renown all over the world for its designs for silver tableware, ceremonial silver and other objects, its jewelry was also a highly sought-after indicator of status and taste. Upon Charles’s death in 1902, his son Louis Comfort Tiffany took over artistic direction for the brand. Earlier, in 1885, Louis had founded the Tiffany Glass Company, a glassmaking firm, that began producing the lamps commercially in 1895. It evolved into Tiffany Studios in 1902. Louis brought his decorative eye inspired by nature to the Tiffany stained-glass lamps as well as organic jewelry designs. Explore a large collection of Tiffany lamps and Tiffany & Co. jewelry on 1stDibs.
- 1stDibs ExpertMarch 22, 2022To tell if a Tiffany lamp is real, flip it over to reveal the base and pull up the cap. If you see a dull gray ring, you likely have an authentic lamp. Real Tiffany pieces feature a lead ring. Replicas usually use brass, zinc, painted metal, wood or plastic instead of lead. Find a variety of expertly vetted Tiffany lamps on 1stDibs.
- 1stDibs ExpertFebruary 22, 2021A Tiffany lamp costs between $4,000 to $1 million, on average. The most expensive Tiffany lamp sold at auction for $2.8 million. These lamps are so expensive because they are handmade and not mass produced.
- 1stDibs ExpertAugust 29, 2024To tell if a Tiffany lamp is valuable, first examine its features carefully. Its age, base, glass pattern, glass quality and overall condition will all play a role in determining its value. After you have a feel for the characteristics of your piece, you can investigate what similar lamps have sold for in the past at auctions and on online platforms. Another way to learn the value of your lamp is to have a certified appraiser or knowledgeable antique dealer evaluate it. On 1stDibs, explore a range of Tiffany lamps.
- 1stDibs ExpertSeptember 23, 2024To identify a Tiffany table lamp, first take a close look at the base. Some pieces will bear a stamp or label that says, "Tiffany Studios," and newer lamps may also feature a serial number. By comparing the number and markings to information and images shared by trusted online resources, you can begin the identification process. If your lamp isn't marked, the base construction can provide more clues about the maker. Tiffany lamps usually feature bronze bases that feel weighty. Older models typically have a gray metal ring on their bottoms as well. In addition to examining the base, try turning the lamp on for a while and then touching the stained glass shade. Tiffany lamps tend to stay cool due to the thickness of the glass, so if yours feels hot, it may be the work of a different manufacturer. When in doubt, use the identification services of a certified appraiser or knowledgeable antique dealer. Shop a collection of Tiffany lamps on 1stDibs.
- 1stDibs ExpertFebruary 22, 2021A genuine Tiffany lamp is quite expensive. It can cost anywhere between $4,000 to well over $1 million depending on how big it is and what year it was made.
- 1stDibs ExpertAugust 14, 2024No, Tiffany Studios no longer makes lamps. On the secondhand market, antique Tiffany Studios table lamps and other decorative glass objects are the most recognizable and prized of the manufactory’s works.
The hand-crafted kerosene and early electric lighting fixtures created at Tiffany Studios now rank among the most coveted decorative objects in the world. Tiffany designs of any kind are emblematic of taste and craftsmanship, and Tiffany glass refers to far more than stained-glass windows and decorative glass objects. The iconic multimedia studio’s offerings include stained-glass floor lamps, chandeliers and enameled metal vases.
The name Tiffany generally prompts thoughts of two things: splendid gifts in robin’s-egg blue boxes and exquisite stained glass. In 1837, Charles Lewis Tiffany co-founded the former — Tiffany & Co., one of America’s most prominent purveyors of luxury goods — while his son, Louis Comfort Tiffany, is responsible for exemplars of the latter.
Louis Comfort Tiffany was undoubtedly the most influential and accomplished American decorative artist in the decades that spanned the late 19th and early 20th centuries. And while the lion’s share of credit for Tiffany Studios table lamps and other fixtures has gone to Louis, it was actually Clara Driscoll (1861–1944), an Ohio native and head of the Women’s Glass Cutting Department for 17 years, who was the genius behind the Tiffany lamps that are most avidly sought by today’s collectors.
Find antique Tiffany Studios lamps on 1stDibs. - 1stDibs ExpertFebruary 22, 20211stDibs sells a variety of high-quality Tiffany-style lamps at various price points. Some are from the mid-century modern movement and others are from the Art Deco period.
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