What is deco antique lighting? Tips of identifying and purchasing the deco style of antique lighting. "Deco is a very stylized group of lighting from the 1920s, 1930s, and early 1940s,"says Sharon Nunnally,...
"Deco is a very stylized group of lighting from the 1920s, 1930s, and early 1940s,"says Sharon Nunnally, who has been in the antique lighting business for 20 years and is the owner of Antique Lighting and Restoration in Denver. "Its biggest distinction is the fact that the glass that was used in many of these fixtures was very unusual in its shape and pattern. It only would fit in one type of fixture, and usually that was the fixture that it came with. The glasses are molded glass and there were lots of different styles. They would look almost identical, but the fittings would be different. The lamps were made of iron, brass, or aluminum. The glass colors include amber, soft pink, yellow, and some pale green. It's some of the most beautiful glass ever attached to lighting. Right now it is one of the hardest types of fixture to find replacement glass pieces for. That's partly because deco lighting is a very, very hot commodity. If you see a fixture that has only four out of five pieces of glass, don't bank on finding the fifth."
Art Deco lighting was made for about 25 years, but every piece of lighting made during those years is not Art Deco. "People will classify deco that really aren't," Nunnally continues. "Descriptive words get used interchangeably with people. There are a lot of lights that get called deco because people find out that they were manufactured during that period. But that does not mean it is a deco fixture; it may be some other type of fixture. In order to truly be Art Deco antique lighting, it must have specific characteristics and not just be made in a certain time period."
At the beginning of the 20th century the death of Queen Victoria in 1901 ended the Victorian era. The advances of technology, including electricity, airplanes, and telephones, were here to stay. After World War I ended in 1919, life in Europe and America changed drastically. . Art Deco got its name from the 1925 Paris "Exposition Internationale Des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Moderns" which was a showcase for new and original works of all types. The world looked to Paris for leadership in fashion and design, and France's largest city did not disappoint them.
Art Deco is a style of decoration which was applied to many aspects of life, including architecture, home furnishings, and fashion. It is identified by vivid use of color and stark, geometric shapes such as cubes. Art Deco also incorporates a lot of contrasts, such as color palates of chrome and cobalt blue, and crystal and black.
Home furnishings included a lot of blue mirrors on cocktail table tops, jewelry boxes, and the backs of small bars. This colored glass offered a striking contrast to their chrome frames. Wall mounted lamps which aimed the light at the ceiling, called torchier lamps, were very popular. Table lamps often have figures of people, including nude women, and animals on their bases and colored glass shades. Art Deco furnishings often have some accents of chrome and glass.
This exciting era in American style ended with the start of World War II in 1941.
