I Have To Know More About These Lamps. Help!

nicoleantoinette

What I do know: These lamps were made in the 1950-60s, sometimes can be found under the description of amber optic glass, the style may be Hollywood Regency, these possess a 3-way switch diffuser light (a nite-lite) in the bottom globe, brass hardware, and an ornate base. Usually around 28" high and 20" to 40" in diameter.

These lamps are everywhere! Someone has to know something else about these. If you do, please contact me at SHELTER via metamorphpursuit@yahoo.com. Thanks!


Jessica and Andrius' Apartment Therapy house tour

Bravo's Top Design

Now that I know it also comes in green, I am really curious. Can you imagine the beauty if it also came in pale blue? Yum!

Here is a similar one I found:

mmadden

Oh, How I Want It!

I don't have cable, so I have never seen Bravo's show Top Design, but I have caught the recaps on Tom and Lorenzo's blog.

Look what they showed today: My lamp!!! In green!!!



Oh, to have the green version too!!

Mine.

Ooooh, PRETTY...

The Campari

Seen here for $111 and here for $179! Well, I can dream, can't I?

Mid-Century Art Glass*

Note: Originally published at the 2Modern Design Talk blog.



Mid-century furniture has made a return over the last few years. We now can appreciate Eames, Le Corbusier, Saarinen, Bertoia, et al. The furnitures style with its new fluidity and curves was the artistic focus of decor. It was a big change from the fussier and heavier designs of earlier years. But what about the accessories, the background items that "dress" the room?


25" tall floor vase and 11" tall table vase

The 50s and 60s introduced new shapes and colors in decor with ceramics and glass. Some glass work falls under a category called art glass. One style of art glass that I admire is known as the "swung" glass vase. It is created with a technique where hot glass is held by its base with a special tool and swung in a circle before the glass cools, therefore, pulling and elongating the mouth of the piece.

I used to see art glass at thrift stores all the time in the 1980s. They come in great rich shades of blue, red, amber, green, and purple. Almost all of the American glass manufacturers were based in West Virginia and some of the names to look for are Blenko, Kanawha, Morgantown, Pilgrim, Rainbow, and Viking.

Blenko

The most well known one would be Blenko, whose pieces now fetch huge prices and exhibit in museums around the country. Their design control and color artistry is amazing. Purchasing a Blenko would be an investment. However, if you cannot afford one, there are many gems to be found at your local thrift store or neighborhood yard sale. It is true that some people do not know what they have; you might get lucky.

*Forgive the lame title, my brain was fried.

A Few of My Favorite Things

• Amber glass and red "swung" glass vases (also known as "pulled" glass)
• Beaded fruit
• Rehabbed and repainted sofa
• The over-the-top gold bureau
• The color orange

And above all, true funky decor!

Photos of Cynthia Rowley's home courtesy of marie claire magazine.

It pays to do your research...

Something cool happened...I found out what these glasses were.

More than a year ago my dad found me the most beautiful amber lamp. Along with the lamp he found a set of four faceted amber goblets. Through a series of links from search results for amber glass, a similar glass to mine showed up on the screen, but in green.

Avocado green

This is how I found out that they are pressed glass tumblers manufactured by the Indiana Glass Company (1907-2002) of Dunkirk, IN . During the years between 1960 and the '80s, there were many similar looking patterns out there such as the Fostoria American, Indiana Glass American Whitehall (a much later style after they bought Fostoria) and the Jeanette Glass Co. Cube designs. However, I have been able to identify mine as Whitehall, just Whitehall, which were produced from the 1960s to the 1980s and came in gold (amber) olive (avocado), and crystal clear. Later in the run, designs were also available in a light blue and teal.

Here is a chart from the Indiana Glass factory that shows the other items that were part of this line. I'm thinking it sure would be nice to have a few of those avocado green and teal glasses in my cabinet too.



The best thing, is that these are still plentiful at thrift stores and online and are quite affordable at $6-$8 per glass or $22 for a pitcher.

Can You Help Me?

Here are two things that I have moved with me from one apartment to another. Neither of them has ever been displayed or used properly. Things like these are the true source of my clutter so please help me figure out what to do with them.

• One 4-lb bag of beach glass*.

• One $1 bill with director John Waters' autograph.
  (Obtained when he came to speak on campus during my Sophomore year of college in the late 80's.)
  

Do you know anyone that would want to make jewelry out of this glass?

What is the best way that I should frame this dollar? This is a valuable autograph that luckily has not been exposed to the sun over the years.

* Interesting fact: Beach glass is one of a few objects made valuable by actions of the environment on man-made litter.