| Collecting antique lamps can be very rewarding | | | | of fine ribbing. This gave the lampshade the |
| but with so many lamps on the market the | | | | appearance of delicate folded linens. |
| terms describing them can get very confusing. | | | | Ormolu - A bronze or brass in eighteenth and |
| For example, what is a chipped ice finish? What | | | | nineteenth century France used for furniture and |
| exactly is ormula? The following is a brief list of | | | | lamp bases. |
| antique lamp terms you are likely to come across | | | | Patinated - An artificial surface finish on metalware |
| while purchasing period related lighting pieces. | | | | such as copper or bronze. This process creates a |
| Boudoir lamp - This is a catch-all term for small | | | | fine greenish crust reproducing the look of bronze |
| decorative lamps which were meant to sit on the | | | | archeological relics. The finish was popular in the |
| dressing tables of a woman's boudoir. In antique | | | | nineteenth and twentieth century. |
| lamps these are usually from the early electric | | | | Puffy - Ornate brown shades produced by the |
| period. | | | | Pairpoint Corporation for early electric lamps. |
| Bridge lamp - These are floor lamps, which have a | | | | These lampshades were brightly colored with |
| single metal arm extending from the top of the | | | | flowers of various kinds on the design. |
| lamp standard and ending in an electric socket. | | | | Reverse-painted - Description of early electric |
| These lamps were popular in the 1920's and 30's | | | | lamps which had decorative scenes painted on the |
| and were covered in glass or with a cloth paper | | | | inside of the lampshade. The opposite of this is |
| shade. | | | | obverse-painted which has the painting on the |
| Chipped ice - This was a rough finish on many | | | | exterior of the shade. |
| early glass electric lamps which had a painting on | | | | Slag glass - A glass formed by combining a white |
| the exterior with landscapes, florals, or birds. | | | | glass with a swirled in contrasting color. The thin |
| Cold painted - Painting on the unheated surface of | | | | panels were often bent while hot, and fitted into |
| a metal lamp for decorative purposes. | | | | intricate metal framework. |
| Flint glass - A clear, heavy glass which produces a | | | | Teroma glass - Art glass where frosted crystal |
| bell-tone when tapped gently. This was made with | | | | glass with a chipped ice finish used to make vases |
| blown and pressed glass with flint in the mix in | | | | and lampshades. The exterior is hand-painted on |
| seventeenth century England. In the eighteenth | | | | the glass and this was popular in the twentieth |
| century the flint was switched to lead oxide, but | | | | century. |
| the name continued to be flint glass. | | | | Tutleback tile - Tiffany studios created these |
| Harp - In the early electric lamps this was a | | | | glass tiles, which resemble turtle by being slightly |
| arched metal loop at the top that held the shade | | | | oval with a domed top. These were sometimes |
| above the base. | | | | inset into a lampshade for decorative purposes. |
| Linenfold - A decorative glass shade which, was | | | | This is a very brief starter list of terms antique |
| preferred by Louis Tiffany. It consisted of an | | | | lamp collectors should be aware of to aid them in |
| almost clear glass panel impressed with a design | | | | their search for pre and early electric lamps. |