Are antique standard lamps mostly Victorian?

No. The dated listings run 1800 to 1960, and the two heaviest decades by a wide margin are the 1920s and 1930s, which together outnumber everything Victorian. Only seven listings are dated to the 1870s and twenty-eight to the 1880s, so anything credibly mid-Victorian is the thin end of the archive. Victorian and Edwardian also get used as era labels in place of a year.

What are they usually made of?

Brass, more than anything else. It appears in 500 of 1,180 titles, often on a classical column, and copper, iron and cast metal make up a smaller metal group alongside it. Wood is the other half of the field, led by oak, mahogany and walnut, with barley twist stems recurring and carved and giltwood columns at the decorative end.

Do standard lamps adjust in height?

Many of the metal ones do. Adjustable appears in 104 titles, telescopic in 80 and extending in 35, with rise and fall recurring alongside them. The mechanism is close to a defining feature of the brass examples. Wooden columns are more often fixed.

What is a chinoiserie standard lamp?

One decorated in a Chinese taste by a European hand, usually painted over lacquer. Grounds recorded include black, red, green, blue, cream and ivory. It is a sizeable sub-population at 101 titles, about one in twelve, with a run of Edwardian examples and some described as japanned.

Were any converted from oil lamps?

Yes. Fifty-eight titles still describe the lamp as an oil lamp, including paraffin and Aladdin examples, and several are openly labelled as conversions. The form grew out of oil and gas fittings on tall columns, so conversion was the ordinary route once houses were wired. Cast-iron gas candelabra and ecclesiastical candlesticks turned into standards appear too.

How often do pairs come up?

More often than you would expect. Pair appears in 89 titles, and pairs sit markedly higher in the sampled range than single lamps. One listing offers a set of three Edwardian lamps.

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Antique Standard Lamps

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A standard lamp is a free-standing floor light on a tall column and spreading or tripod base, made to stand beside a chair and carry a shade at head height.