Yup...'member this lamp? Dragged it home from a barn like store near Cave City Ky. I could see that there was some hope of saving it when I gave it the once over in that hot dimly lit cluttered gods gift to pickers. Turns out...I was right!
The before pic from the shop. What a mess! The lamp not the shop. Well...the shop too I
guess! I like a messy place. It makes discovering the "gem" all that more amazing. And while it
isn't always the case, it seems like the gem would likely be cheaper pulled out of the slow jaws
of death.
Here's some before pics from when I got it home. The finish is ganked up but the structure is in
great shape. All it needed was a little rub down to look beautiful again. This afternoon it finally
got that rub down! I rubbed and rubbed...and it paid off.
Not too shabby, don't you think? I didn't give it the 100 point restoration treatment but just got it
to the usable point. Maybe a little better. I don't have a whole lot of patience. I wanna get the
job done and see the finished product. The good news is that my "process" leaves some of the
age on the piece. It doesn't look new for sure and without a closer inspection it might not be
obvious that it was refinished. Whateve...I'm really just lazy and impatient!
I bought a lamp at the St. Charles Antique mall last weekend just for this lamp shade. I thought
it might look great on this lamp. Hmmmmm....maybe not. It might look better raised up a few
inches but I'm still going to keep my radar on for a better fit. Oh yeah, and we went to the cell
phone shop and both got new phones. I had a Samsung smartish phone that did a
commendable job for the last two years of keeping me informed but it was getting long in the
tooth and was showing it's age. The Girlfriend has been seething about her Blackberry (which
she hates) for same amount of time. Now we've got the same Android phones and have
already been helping each other figure out how to set this up and how to get that to work. I'll be
able to scour C-list even better now! Look out!
I could be wrong, but isn't that type of lamp supposed to have a long tubular fiberglass shade that runs the entire length of the uprights, and sits *inside* the uprights?
ReplyDeleteWhichever shade works, it's a gorgeous thing.
...maggie
maggie - Yeah, your are correct. It is supposed to just have a simple tube shade slid down the middle of the spires. What are the chances of finding a shade like that anywhere? I've either got to make a shade (gonna try!) or use something else (not really working so far).
ReplyDeleteThose old bones really cleaned up! I actually like the improvised lamp shade. I think it really works until you A) find the original shades (good luck, which I mean unsarcastically) or B) make a good reproduction (also good luck, unsarcastically). I love that you've been sharing the lamp's journey, hope to see more.
ReplyDeleteps. I do know that unsarcastically is not a word, I figured you'd catch my drift.
Flo - Thank! I may have an idea in the works. We'll see.
ReplyDeleteYou can have a shade made locally here in st. Louis. Blodgett lighting and at least one other local can order them. Just check around. There is at least one company on the web that specializes in custom shades of all sizes and designs.
ReplyDeletey
We used to have a lamp identical to this years ago (growing up). It approximates from about 1966-67 possibly made by Lane or distributed by them. As I recall, we got it from a store called Furnitureland in Akron Ohio (I was 5 at the time...)Would love to get another one...or a set of them...Hmmph!
ReplyDelete