What is the most common antique lamp type?

A brass table lamp of late Victorian to Edwardian or interwar date. Table is the commonest word in these titles, with brass close behind. Within that, the Corinthian column is the most repeated design, named in 476 titles and often one of a matched pair.

Do these lamps come with shades?

Often not. Shade appears in only 346 titles, and 149 describe the piece as a base, meaning the lamp without a shade. Where a shade is part of the design, as with bouillotte and tole types, the listing tends to say so.

Are antique lamps usually signed or marked?

Rarely. Only four maker names are carried by three or more dealers across more than seven thousand listings, so the overwhelming majority arrive with no attribution. When a name does appear, it may be stamped on the base or offered as an attribution rather than a mark.

How old are most of the lamps listed?

The dated field runs from 1700 to 1960, with 4,935 listings carrying a clean year. The bulk falls between 1890 and 1939. The 1920s and 1930s lead on numbers, ahead of the 1910s and 1900s. Plenty of listings use a period label instead: 19th Century, Edwardian, Victorian, Georgian, Regency.

Why are so many sold as pairs?

Lamps were made and bought in twos for mantelpieces, side tables and hall consoles, and 1,593 titles on Sellingantiques describe a pair. Pairs cluster in the upper half of the range, and sets of four or eight appear only at the higher end.

What unusual lamps turn up in this category?

Railway and maritime forms make a quiet seam: Pullman carriage lamps, GWR carriage lamps, gimballed ship's lamps, station platform lamps and copper street lanterns. One-offs surface in ones and twos as well, among them a taxidermy deer-hoof table lamp, an aluminium aircraft hangar lamp, an early searchlight and a set of merman candelabra.

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Antique Lamps

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Antique lamps here are domestic lighting for table, desk and floor, mostly wired for electricity, with a body of older oil lamps, candlesticks and vases converted to the same use.