The catalogue11 plates
All guides
How to recognize, buy and safely use art deco lamps and fixtures, and the eras around them: Tiffany-style, nouveau, schoolhouse, bankers and mid-century.
- 01Art decoLamps, chandeliers, sconces and gifts from the 1920s and 1930s: how to recognize a period piece and where each fixture fits.4 plates
- 02Tiffany-style and leaded glassLeaded-glass lamps, from Tiffany Studios originals to later Tiffany-style reproductions: construction, sizes, marks and value.2 plates
- 03Other erasThe eras around art deco: art nouveau, Bauhaus and brutalist, schoolhouse and bankers lamps, and mid-century modern.3 plates
- 04Value, care and wiringHow to identify an antique or vintage lamp, what drives value, and when old wiring needs a repair shop or an electrician.2 plates
I Art deco
4 platesPlate I
Art Deco Lighting: How to Recognize and Buy 1920s and 1930s Lamps
What art deco lighting is, five checks for a period piece, where each fixture fits in a room, and guides to lamps, chandeliers, leaded glass and wiring.
Photo: Francisco Anzola / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0Plate II
Art Deco Chandeliers, Pendants and Wall Sconces: Styles and Buying
How to recognize an art deco chandelier, pendant or sconce, what to check on a vintage fixture, and the ceiling box and bathroom rules for installing one.
Plate III
Art Deco Table and Floor Lamps: Torchieres, Figural and Slag Glass
Art deco table, desk and floor lamps explained through museum pieces: torchieres, figural lamps such as Frankart, slag glass lamps, and how to buy one.
Plate XI
Art Deco and Vintage Lighting Gifts, by Person and Occasion
Lamp gifts matched to the person: the old-house restorer, the reader, the stained-glass lover, the mid-century collector, the renter and the Gatsby party host.
II Tiffany-style and leaded glass
2 platesPlate IV
Tiffany-Style Lamps: Table, Floor and Hanging Lamps, Sizes and Glass
What makes a Tiffany-style lamp, how leaded shades are built, the sizes the originals came in, and how to choose a table, floor or hanging lamp today.
Plate V
Real Tiffany Studios Lamp or Tiffany-Style? How to Tell
How auction specialists tell a Tiffany Studios lamp from a later Tiffany-style copy: marks, bases, glass, company names and dates, plus what each is worth.
III Other eras
3 platesPlate VI
Art Nouveau vs Art Deco Lighting, Plus Bauhaus and Brutalist
How to tell art nouveau, art deco, Bauhaus, Streamline and brutalist lamps apart: dates, shapes, materials and museum examples, era by era.
Plate VII
Mid-Century Modern Lighting: Sputniks, Arc Lamps and Bubble Pendants
The mid-century lamps buyers look for, from Sputnik chandeliers and arc floor lamps to Nelson Bubble pendants, with dates from their makers and how to buy one.
Plate VIII
Schoolhouse Lights and Bankers Lamps: Early 1900s Designs Today
Where the green bankers lamp came from, how to date an Emeralite, how schoolhouse shades and fitters are sized, and how to buy either new or vintage.
IV Value, care and wiring
2 platesPlate IX
Antique and Vintage Lamps: How to Identify Them and What Adds Value
How to identify an antique or vintage lamp from its marks, maker and materials, and what specialists say makes one valuable: maker, base, condition and parts.
Plate X
Rewiring an Antique Lamp: When to DIY and When to Call a Pro
Signs an old lamp needs a new cord, socket or plug, what a rewiring kit holds, when to call a pro, and how to choose bulbs and shade fitters for a vintage lamp.