By Anne Gilbert
If you like the look of old glass shades but can’t afford one of those big, super costly Tiffany chandeliers or table lamps there is a solution. Think small. Consider building a collection of individual glass lamp shades that may have been part of a wall fixture or a hanging chandelier with several shades. In the mid 20th century many could still be found in old apartment buildings slated for the bulldozer, or, as out-of-fashion relics, in attics and basements. Often when one of the shades on a brass fixture was broken, the remaining shades were saved and the fixture was tossed. The shades may have been real beauties made by Steuben, Quezal and Tiffany. Prices were around $20 for even Tiffany Favrile.These days they turn up as “singles” at auction for from $500 and up.
Successful glass shade collectors tell me part of the fun is where you find the shades. One lucky collector paid $20 for a Tiffany-Favrile shade, wrapped in a newspaper, on the bottom shelf of a kitchen cupboard. Other collectors can haunt salvage yards who have learned to identify the importance of a single glass shade that was once part of a ceiling fixture.
CLUES: How can you recognize a collectible shade? Apply the same method of identification to shades you would to any old glass. While the choicest pieces were made between 1890 and the 1920s, there were good shades still being made in the 1930s. Familiarize yourself with glass techniques such as Aurene, irridescent, Ivrene, acid cut-back, cameo and crackle-glass surfaces.
Many of the small Tiffany shades bear the initials L.C.T., or L.C.T. Favrile. Other times merely numbers. Quezal was also signed with an XZ, acid-etched or engraved. The Company was named for the quezal bird with brightly color feathers. The bird was used on a paper label for a short time in 1907. Steuben used either a fleur-de-lys or a Steuben signature. Many others are unsigned. It is up to you to recognize the technique and the maker. Some made by Durand and Fostoria, used paper labels that have long since turned to dust. Lucky is the hunter who turns up a Carnival glass shade made by the Imperial Glass Company of Ohio.
Be aware of the patterns that were most often used by other makers. Among them are variations of peacock feather, drape, spider webbing, drag loop, leaf and vine. The chain or “guilloche” design was used by both Tiffany and Steuben. The Tiffany example would be more expensive
Once you know what to look for you may be fortunate enough to discover a King Tut pattern shade. This design uses threads that have been pulled in a swirled or hooked pattern. The threads are color-contrasted to the shade. Because of the fineness of the threads (many no thicker than a human hair), remarkable workmanship was required.
It was so named by the Durand Vineland Flint Glass Works to tie-in with the discovery of King Tut’s tomb just after the turn of the 19th century. A similar Tiffany design is known as Damascene. Quezal and Steuben had their own variations.
There are many excellent reference books on the above mentioned glass houses and their techniques, as well as various internet sources.
PHOTO CAPTION: (1) Antique cranberry glass shade. PHOTO CAPTION: (2) 1920’S Holophane (prism glass) shade. PHOTO CAPTION: (3) Handpainted early 20th century glass shade. PHOTO CREDIT: All from “OLDE GOOD THINGS
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