Pair of Side Lamps
A pair of side lamps brings symmetry to a room, offering paired illumination alongside tables and beds.
Pair of Side Lamps
A pair of side lamps unites twin forms designed to illuminate a room from a surface, spanning freestanding table lights and converted candelabra or urns. These pieces often arrive as matched sets of lighting or as small tables doubling as lamp supports.
The selection ranges from early figures in brass and bronze to mahogany bedside chests and occasional tables adapted for illumination. Pieces draw on Georgian, Regency, and Edwardian traditions alongside later revivals.
Makers and workshops utilise woods like mahogany, walnut, and rosewood alongside metals such as brass, silver plate, and gilt metal. Marble, glass, and fabric shades complete the construction of these paired objects.
How they were made
Cabinetmakers constructed wooden tables using solid mahogany, walnut, oak, and exotic veneers like birdseye maple, frequently employing marquetry inlay, drop leaves, or serpentine fronts. Brass galleries, gilt metal mounts, and marble inserts add decorative structure to the tables.
Lighting components utilise cast brass, bronze, silver plating, carved pine, and giltwood, often through the conversion of older candlesticks, urns, or candelabra into wired table lamps.
Even sphinxes and cherubs occasionally hold the light.
What varies in quality
Quality rests in the crispness of the carving, the selection of timber grain, and the weight of the metal components used in the construction. Fine examples display careful marquetry and well-cast figural details rather than mass-produced uniformity.
The integrity of the conversion work on adapted lighting pieces and the preservation of original surfaces also distinguish finer examples from simpler utilitarian items.
E Rousseau·Mallett
The Pair of Side Lamps Glossary
- Etagere
- A small open shelving unit or side table with multiple tiers for display. These pieces provide surface space while maintaining a light visual footprint.
- Marquetry
- Decorative veneer work arranged in pictorial or geometric patterns using various woods. Craftsmen cut contrasting timbers to fit precisely into a prepared background.
- Serpentine
- A curved furniture front shaped in a gentle wave with a convex centre flanked by concave ends. This contour requires skilled carpentry to execute properly.
- Column
- A vertical architectural support featuring a base, shaft, and capital. Corinthian examples include ornate leaf carvings at the top.
Pair of Side Lamps: Frequently Asked Questions
What counts as a pair of side lamps?
A pair of side lamps comprises two matching or closely related lighting fixtures designed to sit upon tables, chests, or pedestals. They provide balanced illumination on either side of a bed, sofa, or interior wall.
The category also encompasses small tables specifically intended to hold lamps, uniting furniture and lighting into a single matching pair for a room.
How do I date these lamps?
Dating relies on observing the prevailing style, timber choices, and manufacturing techniques visible in the construction. Pieces showing Georgian or Regency proportions often reflect later revival periods rather than original eighteenth-century work.
Examining the wiring access, fixings, and metal casting helps separate early twentieth-century adaptations from nineteenth-century originals and modern reproductions.
Where should I place them?
These lamps find natural placement on bedside cabinets, lamp tables, wine tables, and occasional surfaces where symmetrical lighting is desired. Their paired nature suits them to mantelpieces, sideboards, or flanking a main seating area.
Matching the height of the lamps to the surrounding furniture ensures balanced proportions within the room's overall layout.
Are converted items authentic?
Many traditional lighting pieces started life as candlesticks, candelabra, or architectural urns before being converted to electricity in later periods. Such conversions represent a longstanding practice in interior decoration rather than a modern alteration.
Collectors value the quality of the original base object, whether it is cast bronze, carved wood, or porcelain, alongside the standard of the subsequent conversion work.