Art Deco Table and Floor Lamps: Torchieres, Figural and Slag Glass

Art deco table and floor lamps come in four families: geometric table and desk lamps in chrome, silvered brass or bronze; torchieres that throw light upward; figural lamps with a sculpted figure, such as Frankart’s; and slag glass panel lamps. Museum pieces from 1925 to 1930 show the period’s materials.

Which lamps define art deco?

The museum pieces below are the benchmark for what a period lamp looks like. Each record lists the maker, date and materials.

The pattern is clear across the table: metal treated as a finish in itself (gilt, chrome, silver, patina), glass or stone that diffuses rather than shows the bulb, and strong, simple shapes.

Art deco table, desk and floor lamps

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The listings mix pre-owned period lamps and new lamps in the style. Look for a date and maker in the listing; “art deco style” means a newer piece.

Torchieres: the deco floor lamp

A torchiere stands tall and throws its light upward, off the ceiling. Edgar Brandt’s “Temptation” lamps are an example from the 1925 Paris exhibition: the National Gallery of Victoria says they were made in two designs and two sizes, “a tablelamp and a standard lamp,” between 1920 and 1926, with a patinated bronze serpent holding a conical etched glass shade.

Later torchieres brought a hazard of their own. In 1996 the CPSC warned that the tubular bulbs in most torchiere-style halogen lamps reach temperatures “ranging from about 970 degrees Fahrenheit for a 300 watt tubular halogen bulb to 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit for a 500 watt” bulb, and could start a fire in nearby curtains or clothing.

Figural lamps and Frankart

Figural lamps set a sculpted figure beside or beneath the shade, and in American deco the best-known name is Frankart. Harry L. Rinker’s collectibles column says Arthur von Frankenberg’s designs centered on the female form, and that his company made lamps, bookends, ashtrays, clocks and more. Frankart Inc. was incorporated in 1924, headquartered in Manhattan, and ceased operations in 1935.

A Skinner auction entry for two Frankart lamps of about 1930 describes “verdigris patinated metal,” with molded marks reading “Frankart Inc. Pat. Appld. For” and a design patent number. Look for such a mark on the base; an unmarked figure may be another maker’s work or a later copy.

Desk lamps

Deco designers treated the desk lamp as a design piece too. The Met’s Donald Deskey table lamp of 1927, in chrome-plated metal and glass, is small enough for a desk at about 12 inches tall. For the green-shaded bankers lamp, which predates deco, see the schoolhouse and bankers lamp guide.

Slag glass lamps

Slag glass turns up in the shades of many antique table lamps. The Corning Museum of Glass calls slag glass “a collectors’ name for opaque pressed glass with colored streaks, usually white and/or cream streaks,” sold in its day as “Marble glass” or “Brown malachite.” Collectors Weekly notes that it “was a popular material for lampshades.”

Not every slag glass lamp is art deco: slag glass is a material, not a style. Makers such as Handel (founded 1885) and Bradley & Hubbard (founded 1852), both of Meriden, Connecticut, were in business long before the deco years. The antique lamp value guide covers how to identify them.

Antique slag glass and leaded lamps

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Period lamp or new lamp in the style?

Both have a place. A period lamp carries its maker, its date and its original finish; it is the choice for a collector, and it usually needs new wiring. A new lamp in the deco style gives the look with a modern cord and socket and costs less to own day to day.

Listings do not always make the difference plain. Read the description for a date, a maker and the word “style”: a lamp described as “art deco style” is a newer piece. Ask for photos of the underside of the base and any label, and for the height and shade size in inches so you can compare it with the museum pieces above. Our antique lamp value guide explains what those marks can tell you.

How to choose an art deco lamp

• Period or reproduction. A period lamp has a maker, a date and wear to match; a new lamp in the style should be priced and described as one.
• Height and shade. The Ruhlmann lamp stands 29 1/2 inches; a desk lamp like Deskey’s about 12. Measure the table and the space above it.
• Light direction. A torchiere lights the ceiling and the room; a table lamp lights the surface below it.
• Wiring. Plan on a new cord for any lamp that still has its original one.

For fixtures that hang, see the chandelier and sconce guide. Back to the art deco lighting guide.