Unique/interesting lighting styles (plug-in) you search for outside of stained/leaded/slag?

[SouthBend]

We have a late Victorian home and looking for good sources or examples of lighting that might fit the house for a reasonable price (under $300 or so). Leaded/stained glass antiques are fairly easy to find on Facebook marketplace, Craigslist, antique stores, etc. That's what I did for the last 3 years with cheap newer reproductions and just ready to be a little less thrifty (photos below of some on main floor now). Fair amount of wired permanent fixtures so this is just supplemental/accent for on desks, mantels, tables, bookcases, etc.

Slag glass lamps which I love seem to be going for $800 to $3,000 Plus. Not a big fan of lights with cherubs or other figurine sort of bases. Then the terminology for searches gets bit muddy with terms like buffet lamps, torcheres, boudoir lamps, Etc. Looks like fabric shades with various types of tasseling were common, converted oil/hurricane lamps/"gone with the wind" lamps, and clear or sort of flowery painted milk glass shades.

Does anyone have a style they personally like or suggestions on search terminology for styles that might fit a 1904 late victorian? Obviously styles differ and you can decorate however you like but just looking for any suggestions. Tried the search bar. Thanks

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[Manalto]

Hi South Bend, You've got some nice looking lamps. One style that I'm fond of is commonly called a student lamp. It's a classic style that endured for generations. Originally, the cylindrical tank would hold kerosene or lamp oil; today they're usually electrified, as you see here. (The leaded glass shade is not typical for this style of lamp; I particularly like the versions with a cased glass shade in green or butterscotch.)

[SouthBend]

Thank you, that's exactly the sort of example I was looking for. I go to the antique stores a fair amount and don't recall seeing these, or at least often. Love it though..... Brass, interesting, doesn't make me feel like a grandma with a bunch of porcelain floral painted or have naked figurines at the base lol.

The green shades like these would indeed be very cool but really all the shades that are common look great.

More suggestions are welcome if anyone has one

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[Gothichome]

Southbend, when we need electric lights Gothichome we generally go for old pan lights and do the the conversion.
We have a reference library here in the District, Lots of period catalogs and stuff.
http://www.oldhouselights.com/catalogs_frame.htm

[phil]

some of those lamps are real art pieces so they hold their price. Its not like giant buffets and wardrobes where people in new houses or compartments can still buy and use vintage lamps.

with Victorian you have a lot of neat stuff that is elegant to choose from and there are a lot of knock offs to be wary of.
Ive been thinking along the lines of making some with beautiful wood and brass and mica for the shades in a more craftsman or arts and crafts style because they look a lot easier to create, simpler styling and my place is 1924 so it sort of fits.

my living room never had lights on the ceiling so when I rewired I did not add them , instead added a couple of switched plugs, thinking then I can have more plug in lamps.

I collected a lot of radios and got interested in things like lamps that are also radios and clocks that are also radios. I restored one from the 50's.. I have my eyes open for any vintage radios that are also lamps. i have a chair side radio , its like an end table that contains a radio. there is an atwater kent table radio that is octagon , like a kitchen table with a built in radio from the 20's. its called a kiel table. there were a lot of transistor radios made that were unique but mostly plastic, my interests end with the transistors at about 1965 or so.

[SouthBend]

my living room never had lights on the ceiling so when I rewired I did not add them , instead added a couple of switched plugs, thinking then I can have more plug in lamps.

I highly recommend the Phillips Hue bulbs if you've ever thought of them. I have schedules and routines so they turn on at X and off at Y for all plug in lamps. Also have them in light fixtures on the front and back doors, linked to the little Hue Motions, so they come on automatically and turn off after 30 seconds. I can tell my Google Home, turn on dining room, or "I'm going to bed" and it will turn off all interior lights in the house. Pretty neat things you can do with it.

[phil]

neat technology, It might help me keep track of my phone better too because I'd need it more and I seem prone to misplacing it im not sure I'm Ok with my light bulbs being smarter than I am though

I put one of those touch lamp sockets in my bedside lamp. I like that I can touch it and it comes on because the switch is all flaky so with that I can leave the switch alone and I dont have to fix it

at our summer cabin by the lake someone put in one of those clap lamps. you know clap on clap off... we have a house there and a cabin for two beside the lake. and so if there is a young couple we will try to let them use the cabin because its romantic and a special place...
What inevitably happens is that the couple then start doing the wild thing and repetitively turn the cabin light on and off a bunch of times and then everyone in the house can see it flashing.. its been good for a lot of laughs...

[1918ColonialRevival]

I really, really need to get around to scanning my library of old catalogs and putting them online for the benefit of all.

Most electric lighting of the first few years of the 1900s were designed in much the same manner as the gas fixtures were, the exception being single-bulb fixtures, which were usually pretty plain. Do a search for "1890 gas lighting" or "1900 gas lighting" and you'll get an idea of fixture styles that were popular around the turn of the century. The only visual difference was that all gas lights were oriented upward while most electric fixtures had the bulbs oriented downward. Lots of them were made, but one reason they are so hard to find intact today is people started tearing them out as early as 1920 to update their interior lighting. You may have to assemble them from parts.

The pan lights like Gothichome mentioned became popular around 1915 and were probably the most common electric fixtures for about 10 years until the cast aluminum and pot metal fixtures took off in popularity in the mid 1920s. Pan lights often hung for decades and nice originals aren't too difficult to find today if you look around.

Even though they aren't necessarily true to the period, I always tell people that almost anything pre-Art Deco will look nice in a late Victorian/Edwardian era house. Art Deco fixtures from the late '20s through the '30s and onward will clash, the only exception being some of the more ornate slipper shade fixtures as long as there aren't too many geometric patterns in them.

Believe it or not, slag glass was never all that popular compared to other styles of fixtures. It experienced a renaissance of sorts in the late 1960s that continued for about 15 years in which nearly every bar, pizza joint, and steakhouse were outfitted with slag and stained glass fixtures. That's one reason you find so many of the repros today. Look at any circa 1975 lighting catalog and you'll see lots of them.

One other final thought. Shiny brass was rarely seen outside of nautical settings in those days. Virtually all brass fixtures came as either raw brass or a darkened "antique" brass finish. Some were nickel or copper plated. The high-gloss mirror finish brass didn't really become a thing until after WWII.

[Gothichome]

If I may be allowed to expand on Colonial’s words. There were also gas/electric combo’s as well. In the early days of municipal electrical systems many were undependable, so if you had original gas lighting and you converted to this new fangled electricity you had both available. But still they were pretty plain for the most part, a tube with a gas valve pointing up often with a simple shade and a set of wires following the tube to power the down turned bulb, often with a shade as well.

[SouthBend]

Yeah, I think the chandelier at my staircase was probably dual at one point. There's 3 upturned lights on one switch, and another set of 3 downturned lights on another switch. At some point, a previous owner put those fake incandescent flame bulbs in the upturned, maybe as an ode to it's history? Then again maybe it's a reproduction