Light fixture part question

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Old house lady
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Light fixture part question

Post by Old house lady »

Good morning! This light is missing a piece but Im unsure of what to look for... Should it be a bowl, a 'flying saucer', a flat plate-shape? The only part Im sure of is the need for a center hole, and Im 99% sure it should be clear. Its in a 3rd floor room, originally part of the children's playroom which was split into 3 rooms sometime in the mid-late 40s

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Lily left the valley
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Re: Light fixture part question

Post by Lily left the valley »

Old house lady wrote:Good morning! This light is missing a piece but Im unsure of what to look for... Should it be a bowl, a 'flying saucer', a flat plate-shape? The only part Im sure of is the need for a center hole, and Im 99% sure it should be clear. Its in a 3rd floor room, originally part of the children's playroom which was split into 3 rooms sometime in the mid-late 40s

IMG_20170910_122439537.jpg
I'm still learning lamp vocab myself. Here's a site 1918ColonialRevival pointed out to me that I've been using to look for parts . "Dish" seems to be the proper term I think for what you need.
https://www.grandbrass.com/category/glass_lamp_shades-dish_and_empire_style_shades/glass_lamp_shades/
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Manalto
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Re: Light fixture part question

Post by Manalto »

I understood your question to mean that you wanted to know what the missing part looked like, as well as the terminology.

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Old house lady
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Re: Light fixture part question

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Thank you both! Yes, while scrounging through yard and estate sales, Im hoping to find the right replacement, so I need to know what to look for. But, its nice to have the proper name as well :P

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Lily left the valley
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Re: Light fixture part question

Post by Lily left the valley »

I tried to do an image match search, but not having much luck because the shade is missing.

Also, the company linked below is where I found a lamp similar to one that was gifted to us so I knew how to refurb ours when we get to it. You might find something similar there to work off too. They have just shades available as well as fixtures to use for research. You can search by year or style. There's also a SOLD! link on the top menu with more, but I don't think those are as easily searchable by year.

I bet if you send them your picture, they could give you a better idea than I can of what you'd need.

Their site is here: http://www.vintagelights.com/

I almost wonder, if it was one of those really fancy shades like the Virdens on that site. But the bulb orientation in most of those isn't sideways from what little I can see, so I'm really not sure. Yet it does make me wonder if you have the old smaller circular bulbs instead if it would have had one of those shades. They have later (30-40s) flatter style that definitely would accommodate the bulb orientation, though it's a deco look overall. It won't let me copy it and I don't have time to hunt through the source code, so you can see that one here: http://www.vintagelights.com/product/1/mid-century-chandelier-early-30s-2-matching-available.html

Wish I could be more helpful.
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Gothichome
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Re: Light fixture part question

Post by Gothichome »

Oldhouselady, I invision some thing like this
http://www.vintagelights.com/product/4/ ... xture.html
Or maybe a shade like those used on torchiers

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Old house lady
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Re: Light fixture part question

Post by Old house lady »

Those are beautiful! Thank you both for the links - this site is now bookmarked for ideas (and the occassional daydream)

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Willa
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Re: Light fixture part question

Post by Willa »

Not a vintage lighting expert by any means, but I think what you are missing is the 1930's/40's glass shade, with a centre hole, which was probably a soft pastel or frosted embossed glass, like these:

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1930s-Art-Deco-chandelier-Hollywood-4.jpg
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Lily left the valley
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Re: Light fixture part question

Post by Lily left the valley »

Willa wrote:Not a vintage lighting expert by any means, but I think what you are missing is the 1930's/40's glass shade, with a centre hole, which was probably a soft pastel or frosted embossed glass, like these:
67.jpg

1930s-Art-Deco-chandelier-Hollywood-4.jpg

Oh Willa, you read my mind somehow. :thumbup: The second above is a closer variant to what I was thinking in my head after looking at the Virdens. My concern for the usual dish is it might not be deep enough. Most of the dish fixtures I've seen usually have two bulbs, not four, and given the length of the center stem that goes through the shade hole, it seemed logical that a deeper type was made for that width.
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Re: Light fixture part question

Post by phil »

thinking a little outside the box, if you are in thrift stores and such you could notice candy dishes or cake trays might have a hole and be the right shape. I'm sure you can look at the ones from lighting places as well but just a thought.

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/imag ... k3Vv4_G0mT

to me one hint is the glass ball thing.. . obviously that went on the outside of the fixture so it probably had some tie in in the design
I love that bulb , it is an unusual shape. Radio tubes with that shape of glass envelope are called "ST" shape.. not sue what ST stands for, earlier ones are globes usually. an example
https://ebid.s3.amazonaws.com/upload_bi ... 3621-0.jpg

with 4 bulbs you have a certain amount of heat so it needs to not melt down , so I wouldn't' choose a plastic replica unless you go to LED bulbs , they burn cool.

Im sure you will find many examples of beautiful shades. a lot are real works of art and can be pricey. If you have a local glass blower maybe they would also have some offerings?

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