Twentieth-Century Lamp Manufacturers

This table lists important lamp manufacturers of the twentieth century, their locations, dates of operation, and marks. Manufacturer Location Dates of Operation Marks Arredoluce Monza, Italy c.1945–1970s Arteluce Milan, Italy 1936–1974 (purchased by Flos in 1974) Artemide Pregnana Milanese, Italy 1959–present Frankart, Inc. New York, New York 1920s–1930s Fulper Flemington, New Jersey 1858–1935 (Vasecraft Lamps […]

Contemporary Lamp Design—The 1970s to 2000

Lighting designers in the 1970s experimented with new materials—plastics and other synthetics—and new sources of illumination, including halogen bulbs, fluorescent and neon tubes, and LEDs (light-emitting diodes). The neon Asteroide floor light (1968) and the Alogena series of halogen lamps (1970) are examples of these innovative designs. The oil crisis of the 1970s led to […]

New Lighting Technologies

Thomas Edison produced his first incandescent light bulbs in 1879. George Claude invented the first practical neon lamp in 1911. Neon was used primarily for signs. Frosted light bulbs were developed in 1925. Fluorescent lighting was patented by Edmund Germer in 1927, but its use in businesses wasn’t widespread until the 1970s. Halogen lamps were […]

Lighting Mid-1920s to the 1960s

From about 1925 through much of the 1930s, art deco designers created lamps that softened the light cast by electric bulbs. They replaced colored-glass shades with frosted, opaque, and smoked glass and designed uplights, indirect lighting with bulbs that shone upward. Stained glass went out of favor, and bronze, painted metal, alabaster, marble, lacquer, chrome, […]

Early Twentieth-Century Lamp Manufacturers

This table lists well known American lamp manufacturers of the early twentieth century, their locations, dates of operation, and marks. Many of the manufacturers listed here also worked in furniture, metalcraft, and other decorative arts. Manufacturer Location Dates of Operation Mark Bradley & Hubbard Meriden, Connecticut 1852–1940 Craftsman, Gustav Stickley Syracuse, New York 1901–1915 Classique […]

Tiffany Studios

Tiffany Studios, owned by glassmaker and artist Louis Comfort Tiffany, made lamps from about 1891 to 1928. It made many types of lamps for electric bulbs, kerosene, and oil. Tiffany was making student lamps, blown-glass oil lamps, and hanging fixtures with leaded glass globes by 1898. Bronze table and floor lamp bases were introduced in […]

Pairpoint

Pairpoint lamps were made from 1890 to 1929 in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The company manufactured glass and silver-plated wares as well as lamps. It made pressed, cut, and decorated glass shades. There are three basic types of Pairpoint shades. Some shades were made with vertical ribs, and occasionally these featured floral designs. The second type […]

Handel Lamps

Although Tiffany lamps are the most famous, many other glass-shaded lamps were made in the early twentieth century. Handel lamps made by Philip Handel are considered among the finest. In 1893 Handel bought out his partner, Adolph Eyden, and in 1903 changed his glass-decorating company’s name to The Handel Company. The firm closed in 1936. […]

Frankart

Frankart, Inc. of New York City mass-produced nude dancing-lady lamps, ashtrays, and other decorative art deco items in the 1920s and 1930s. They were made of a white lead composition and spray-painted. Frankart Inc., the patent number, and the year were stamped on the base. Photo: David Negley’s Art-deco lamps by Frankart often featured women […]

Emeralite

Office desks in the 1920s usually had a lamp with a green glass shade thought to reduce glare and eyestrain. Emeralite lamps were made from 1909 to the 1940s by H. G. McFaddin & Company of New York City. The lamps had a brass or bronze base and a green glass shade lined with white […]