Any antique experts here? Need info on something.

[Squirrelypaws]

Does anyone here know anything about antiques? I bought this old lamp at Salvation Army a few months ago, and while I have a gut feeling that it's valuable, I know absolutely nothing about it to try and look it up. So I was hoping maybe someone here would be a bit more knowledgeable than me and could give me some info on it.

It's a big lamp; about 4 feet tall. I think the metal parts of it are brass. I checked it over for identifying marks, but I don't see anything at all on it.

Here are some pictures of it. Sorry for the sideways-ness of some of them, my computer refuses to rotate them from the Preview page and I'm too lazy to rotate them manually.

Lamp pictures

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Any info would be great!

[pineapplecupcake]

This is a challenging one. I don't have a ton of background with antiques (I go to antique stores a lot and also watch a ton of Antiques Roadshow lol) but my best guess is that this is a lamp from the 1930s-40s. I'm basing that on the shape of the lamp bulby-thing (<-- clearly not an expert, haha) as well as the decorations on it and the fact that is that brass/marble combo which was still a popular style at the time. The bulby thing puts me in mind of schoolhouse lights which were popular in the 20s/30s and for some reason are having a revival right now in home decorating.

Originally, I thought maybe it was a Victorian era oil lamp that had later been converted into an electric lamp like this one: visitors can't see pics , please register or login

but the lamp bulby-thing doesn't look victorian era to me. So, it's more likely to have come from the 1930s/40s. I leave out the 1910s/20s because they shifted away from the victorian era look in favor of Art Deco. However, this kind of pseudo victorian style stuff was also produced in the 40s and early 50s during the "Hollywood Regency" period of decorating, so it's possible that it is also from then. It could be a reproduction but I think in this case that's really unlikely since you found it at the Salvation Army (meaning, somebody would have donated it and is unlikely to have ordered a reproduction and then thrown it out). It probably came as a pair, meant to be put on nightstand tables.

You might try googling 'Hollywood Regency' style and see if there's anything similar to your lamp, or try looking at 1930s era lamps to see if there's anything similar to yours! It's a lovely piece!

[kaoskat]

I know nothing about antiques but that is a gorgeous lamp!

[MiRaja]

No, it's not a converted oil lamp.

It's indeed around 1930's - 1940's era, and if I had to guess, I would say the glass is Japanese Lusterware and some of the nicer stuff at that, or *maybe* German glass, with the fittings and such probably made in the US.  I'm leaning more towards Japanese glass because the porcelain applique to the glass is perhaps moriage, a Japanese porcelain and glass technique.  This is a nicer and not so gaudy example as often seen after the war. 

That said, is it a good grab?  Yes.  You probably got a good price, but is it extremely valuable?  Likely not.  $50$150, depending on the venue where it was being sold.  The shade is not original, though a nice match to the style, shade is probably 60's-70's.  It is a very nice piece, but super valuable pieces are rare and few inbetween and with the state of the market?  And ebay?  Antiques aren't worth what they are today.  Maybe in a high end gallery, a lamp like this might sell for $300, but then you have booth and gallery fees which would likely negate most if not all of that.  If you enjoy it, and like it, well, that's all that really matters about antiques these days and scoring something beautiful for less than what you would have to pay in a frou-frou and overpriced antique store. . . 

[Princess Lala]

Same, I no nothing about antiques but that is a very lovely lamp!!!!! you should take it to the antiques roadhouse show sometime!!!! Or.... is there a forum for antiques? I woulder if someone could ID it for you!

[melodys_angel]

I would have beenable to help if it was stained glass--the tiffany lamps are quite beautiful

I don't know anything about the others though

[Loa]

The shade is probably not the original (as it doesn't match).

There should be a minute makers mark on the base somewhere.

[MiRaja]

The shade is probably not the original (as it doesn't match).

There should be a minute makers mark on the base somewhere.

If the piece is Japanese, at least the porcelain, as I suspect, not having a maker's mark is not in the least uncommon.  Even things made in the US during the 1930's and 1940's are not marked.  And quite commonly so, which led to quite a few lawsuits and patent wars during that period and why things are so much more commonly marked these days are because of the way things were back then.  There was in fact a pretty major lawsuit during that period with a company making dolls with no identifying marks what so ever and attempting to sue another company for stealing their molds, but since their molds were unmarked with no company of origin or maker's mark, they were SOL. . .  Since a lot of Japanese porcelain factories were producing stuff for firms here in the states, it wasn't really all that necessary to mark their work, as they could be working for a new firm or company in the next week than whom they produced work for previously. 

I don't mean to digress, just that any maker's mark can be a reference to the brass company where the fittings came from, or pulling the lamp apart could yield a mark on the porcelain 'bowl' of the lamp.  Rapid industrialization of the US in that period made for a lot of shortcuts when it came to marks or making things from start to finish.  The US made a lot of glass and porcelain, but not of this quality.  The centers of industrialization in the US just did not have access to the right sort of clay to make high quality bisque and porcelain the likes made in Germany, France and Japan at this time period. American porcelain of this time period is very heavy, clunky even, and quite dense.

Interestingly enough, I have several lamps that are made in the 1970's, the ones with the big colored, but clearish, glass bowls?  And the fittings are almost identical minus the marble bits.  All of mine are unmarked and unstamped, even though they're all the very high quality ones.  I don't see a lot of American brasswork marked, to be perfectly honest.