The style that is known as the Victorian lamp shade contains three basic elements: a metallic frame which serves as a support structure, sturdy fabric that is placed onto the frame, and a fringe or beaded skirt that hangs on the shade. The particular style spread after Edison and Tesla presented their respective ideas for distributing electricity to the population. Before this time, lighting in the house was powered by gas. The gas-fired flame meant that fabric shades would catch on fire.
In order to protect the gas-fired flame, glass lamp shades were in use instead. Glass does not melt easily at the temperature of a gas-flame. Only after the development of city-delivered electricity did people turn away from glass lamp shades toward fabric shades. Glass lamp shades are occasionally still popular because it is considered a high quality style.
The nomenclature suffers from some confusion because the reign of Queen Victoria started in 1837 and lasted only until 1901. The end of her reign was actually just the beginning of the electrical age, suggesting that there was no much time for the development of fabric-based shades in the Victorian age.
It is often said that the Victorian lamp shade is made up of a triplet of simple design elements. But upon scrutiny, it turns out that there are so many kinds of shapes for the wire scaffold; there are many kinds of frills and fringes; there are many kinds of colors and surface designs for the fabric. Victorian lamp shades are often compared to other kinds of vintage glass shades.
In contrast, vintage Tiffany lamp shades are famous throughout the U.S. and the world. They are the product of Louis Comfort Tiffany, whose creative forces gave rise to the style of lamp shades that bears his name today. His father was the same who started the famous jewelry store synonymous with quality. Tiffany was the boss of his own business. He used his position to innovate freely, using finely honed methods in stained glass making and migrating them into novel works. The lamp shades that exhibit his name are well-known for brilliance and style. Even so many years later his lamps first came out they continue to be widely imitated and reproduced.
Shades can be found in a plethora of sizes and shapes. The shapes have interesting names, such as hurricane glass shades and gas lamp shades. The hurricane shade is exemplified by a curvy pear design that bulges in the waist before tapering up into a pinched-off neck. Simply by its distinctive profile it is an extremely stylish piece of lighting. The classical gas light shade comes to us from the Victorian age of the United Kingdom. When utility gas lighting first became widespread, it helped fuel commerce-related revolution to the European continent.
Some of this information was graciously granted by a site on home glass lamp shades. Still have inquiries ? Maybe you can check out our research about the antique glass lamp shades industry.
Incoming searches