Antique-of-the-Week : A great 4 globe Chandelier

Antique Lighting is getting harder to find and when you do its terribly expensive and the reproduction stuff is well out of reach of the average homeowner.

Occaisionally we come across decent lighting that needs on minor work. So if you want one of those nice 4 globe chandeliers without the 350-375 dollar price tag, here is your opportunity, but you better hurry these do not last long.

Today's antique of the week is a decent 1910-1920's era 4 light chandelier. This would be appropriate in a later victorian home,or  aa arts and crafts era home. It needs rewiring and a little polish but its overall in good shape and the globes look new.

Offered at only 125.00, this will go fast so contact us at victiques@gmail.com or more details are here: Victorian Antiquities and Design

Polychomed light restoration.

I recently completed a fun project which I thought might be of interest to my readers since I know not all of you are mired in Victorian decor. We picked this piece up several years ago on a buying trip through the south

Now it might surprise you that I would buy Art Deco but actually when I first started collecting (back in the 1980’s) I started with art deco. The good stuff, not the 1950-60’s stuff passed off as Deco today. We chose to buy this price because it was good piece, nice design and the polychoming made it more unique that the average light fixture.

Normally, you find these in a basic bronze finish, so the polychome paint job made all the difference. These older fixtures often have issues like cracks. Those can be filled by use of ‘liquid weld’ which is a high temperature filler that you can sand if need be but it bonds well to metal and I find works well with these old fixtures. This particular fixture was ok in that regard but the paint was cracked and faded. A common mistake people make is using the wrong paint. You can’t use latexes. It won’t bond to the original paint and remember this is a light fixture, which means it’s exposed to heat. And the bulb face down, which means the heat rises. I use enamels for this kind of work. You can find them at hobby store. Even model car paints will work if you can find the right colors, or know how to mix them.

Now if you want to polychome a fixture that has not been painted you can prime it with the appropriate primer for the paint you are using. Actually red auto primer is a good base color if you are going with a gold finish. For this one colors were dictated by the original colors which I matched but if you are starting from scratch I recommend researching polychomed fixtures to see the appropriate color combinations used.

Antique-of-the-Week: A great Wall Sconce with cut glass globe

This week we are offering another great wall sconce! this one has a wonderful cut glass globe. Black cast iron with some great details this would look great anywhere in your victorian home. Priced at ONLY 95.00 this one will go fast! We can ship this for 17.50 anywhere in the lower US.

More photos and detail are available on our website or you can contact me at victiques@hotmail.com. We accept paypal as well.

http://www.antiques.com/dealers/34818/Victorian-Antiquities

Each week Antiques-of-the-Week features a great piece from our inventory. If you do not see what you are looking for just ask. Only a  fraction of our inventory is on our website.

Victorian Design: The "art' of Victorian Lampshades

This shade kit is from TLC Lampshdes. http://www.tcl-inc.com/kits.htm

The elaborate victorian lamp, so highly coveted today, didn't start out that way of course. Early lighting was simple and in fact thought of as 'utilitaian". Lights were brought out at night but during the day regulated to a shelf or in nore affluent homes the "lamp room" where lamps were stored during the day and brought out by the staff. Early lighting especially oil lamps required frequent cleaning and this task was best done out of sight.
As advances in lighting took place like gas lights and then electric lighting, lighting became more a fixture.

Early bulbs put out little light but were considered so advanced and forward thinking they were proudly displayed. As lighting became more advanced the glare from those bulbs became more apparent and in typically victorian fashion it was decided the lighting, like everything else in the home should be a thing of beauty and sophistication. Glass shades were created and eventually table lamps which were more 'globe' based were treated to finely detailed silk shades.

This shade is from Victorian lamp shade supply. http://www.victorianlampshadesupply.com/lamp_shade_kits.html

Of course few of those shades are still around as they were fragile. Today it is no problem to find old table lamp bases and floor lamps at very reasonable prices. but they dont look right with modern shades in older homes. Fortunately there are a number of manufacturer of new "old" shades but they are very pricey. However if you are handy there are a number of companies now making kits which will allow you to have that great shade for that old lamp base you have sitting around collecting dust. In fact most of the shade kit companies have complete instructions and even videos of how to make shades. Proficiency with a glue gun helps but they are well within the abilities of most people.

One word of caution, you should not use high watt bulbs with fabric shades as they give off excessive heat. In fact withe the advent of CFL's a  fabric shade is a great way to disguise those ugly bulbs and add a little warmth to the light given off.