What You Should Know About Tiffany Lamp Shades
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More About Tiffany Lamp Shades
Color is an important component of Tiffany stained glass lamp shades. The color is created by adding minerals and metallic compounds to the glass while it's still liquid. Manganese is known for making violet, while cobalt creates blue glass and copper makes reds and greens, depending on the compound. To make white, glassmakers use tin, and gold makes red or purple.
There are six main kinds of Tiffany lamps - desk lamps, wall sconces, table lamps, chandeliers, floor lamps and hanging shade lamps. Each of these has a glass lamp shade of some sort, usually made out of hand crafted glass, and incorporating stained and blown glasses.
These lamps often have green or brown patinas on them, since their bases are made from brass, bronze, or copper. Some real Tiffany lamps have painted bases as well. You may find lamps with hollow bases - these held fuel and were used before electric lamps became widespread.
While Tiffany lamp shades can be very complex, they're usually made up of much simpler shapes. Some lamps are signed or marked, while others aren't, but the glass in the shade is the real identifier of whether you're looking at a real Tiffany lamp or simply one in the Tiffany style. That's because the hand crafted quality and the brilliance of the glass used in these lamps has yet to be matched.
Floral pattern shades are common on Tiffany lamps, and use geometric, leaf and vine, and floral elements. There are two basic styles - the belted type with a band across a geometric shade, and an all over floral type. Most Tiffany lamp shades are cone or hemisphere shaped. However, floor lamps tend to have a globe shade between a foot and a foot and a half across, and may depict complicated scenes. Some shades may include an undulating border or other unique features.
If you're still not sure, take your lamp to an appraiser. A good appraiser will be able to identify old dust in the cracks of the lamp, and can tell you whether the Tiffany mark on your lamp (if there is one) is the real thing or a fake. Some reproductions are very good, and can be extremely tricky to identify. If you're not looking for authenticity, they're even a great addition to your home. However, you should never pay the price of an original for a reproduction Tiffany lamp and shade!
