Messages

1

Antique Questions Forum / Re: Need help identifying vintage lamp.

« on: February 19, 2015, 10:44:47 am »

Thanks a lot, Mart!  I'm now pursuing finding patinated brass tubing.  However, it's been difficult even finding retailers who sell brass tubing in my area.  I suspect I may have to order it online.  A related challenge (presuming I can't get any more information about the original design of the lamp), is to determine what the length of the stem ought to be.  I suspect that the style of the shade may factor into that.

2

Antique Questions Forum / Re: Need help identifying vintage lamp.

« on: February 18, 2015, 08:00:12 pm »

Thanks a lot.  It's as I thought; the cover is brass.  That makes constructing a column for the external light assembly a lot easier.  I now need information on the probable form and size.

3

Antique Questions Forum / Re: Need help identifying vintage lamp.

« on: February 18, 2015, 06:48:15 pm »

frogpatch,

Thank you for the information, particularly the warning about using a high wattage bulb inside of the urn.  I'm still looking for more information as to how the original external light assembly may have looked (e.g., was it a straight tube of brass/bronze? How high was it?)  Also, I'm uncertain if the lid on the urn is brass or bronze.  (I'm guessing brass.)

4

Antique Questions Forum / Re: Need help identifying vintage lamp.

« on: February 16, 2015, 10:43:55 am »

Fancypants, I strongly suspect that the wiring was redone, so that won't help in identifying the age of the lamp.  Fancypants and KC, there are "hidden details"; engravings that seem to have musical themes (which provides evidence that the figures on the urn are Haydn, Beethoven, and Mozart).  The engravings are observable with and without the urn being lit.  I've attached images with the urn unlit, since they seem to be more recognizable.  (The details show up better when the images are enlarged.)  Image Details 1b is located between Haydn and Beethoven and between Beethoven and Mozart.  Image Details 2c is located between Mozart and Haydn.  Image Details 1b looks like a fusion of columns and a lute.  Image Details 2c contains a violin, oboe, sheet music.  There are additional engravings on the underside of the urn.

I hope this helps.

5

Antique Questions Forum / Re: Need help identifying vintage lamp.

« on: February 15, 2015, 08:24:51 am »

Fancypants and KC,

There are details that show up when the urn is lit.  There are fine lines engraved in the outside of the urn that form what appear to be lutes in two area and in a larger third area, a violin, oboe, and sheet of music.  Later today I'll try to photograph them and post them.  KC, thanks for the information regarding the three figures that form the pedestal and confirming that the urn is alabaster.

6

Antique Questions Forum / Need help identifying vintage lamp.

« on: February 14, 2015, 05:46:39 pm »

I have a vintage lamp that I inherited from my father, who inherited it from his parents.  (See the attached images, one of which has the dimensions.)  According to my father, it was originally a table lamp and my grandfather made an iron extension to turn it into a floor lamp.  According to my, my grandfather received from one of his employers, Mr. Charles Templeton Crocker or Mrs. Helene Irwin Crocker Fagan.  (My grandfather was their chauffeur.)  Helene Crocker divorced Charles Crocker in 1928, then married Paul I. Fagan a few months latter.  They honeymooned in Europe, so it's possible that the lamp was acquired then.  On the other hand, Mrs. Crocker may have received it as a wedding gift for her first marriage (1911).  The base of the lamp seems to be marble.  The pedestal appears to be bronze.  The urn is soapstone or alabaster.  (I'm thinking it's alabaster.)  The cap and light assembly are brass.  The cap is held on to the urn by two brass threaded knobs.  (See one of the attached images for details of the brass cap.)  Besides the light assembly to which a shade is attached, there is a light inside the urn, so that when the light is turned on the urn is illuminated.  There are three (bronze?) reliefs on the urn that appear to be busts of Haydn, Beethoven, and Mozart (L-R, according to full image I've provided).  I have done some research, but have not been able to find any information specific to the lamp.  My wife did find photographs of the Beethoven-Haydn-Mozart Memorial, in Tiergarten, Berlin, Germany.  The images have caused me to wonder if the lamp is German or Viennese in origin.  I'm also wondering if the three figures forming the pedestal of the lamp depict the three Muses of Greek mythology.  My purpose for seeking information about the lamp is that I'd like to restore it to being a table lamp (presuming it was originally a table lamp).  In order to do so, I need to know what the column supporting the external light assembly was.  I also would like to know what would be an appropriate shade to go with the lamp.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.