1900s French Art Nouveau Brass Desk/Table Lamp With Steuben Calcite Shade

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Here’s another successful marriage between America and La Belle France, this time in the forms of an especially rare Steuben … Read more Here’s another successful marriage between America and La Belle France, this time in the forms of an especially rare Steuben calcite/gold aurene shade (signed with the fleur-de-lis mark, of all Frenchy things), and a particularly elegant all-brass French Art Nouveau table or desk lamp. The solemn joining ceremony was performed in my workshop…

This lamp base isn’t especially difficult to find; this bespeaks its immense popularity when it was first manufactured. Unfortunately, the entire lamp wasn’t originally as elegant as the base and shaft. The apparatus designed to hold the shade was, in fact, quite inelegant, a clumsy combination of brass parts. Clearly, it was no small matter to attach a shade to this streamlined shaft and no smooth method seems to have been invented. In this instance, the “clumsy” apparatus was missing when I bought the lamp, and I’ve come up with this solution: I've soldered an American brass device with a swiveling ball joint to the end of the shaft, which I’ve re-shaped to fit inside the opening on the device. Eureka! The American device holds an antique American socket and its 2 ¼ inch shade fitter; and the rest is… as you see it. Note that the socket is one of America’s finest – a Bryant, from around 1900. The interior of this socket – this historical marvel -- has nothing less than a mica insulator, attesting to its more than 100 years of age! The socket functions smoothly and is in what I’d call “near-perfect” condition.

The Steuben shade’s interior is of gold aurene, and when the light is on, the entire shade is bathed in a deep gold color (as shown by the one close-up photo I took without any flash). The exterior “calcite” finish is a creamy off-white, with the organic free-form design you can see in the photos. The shade’s in perfect condition with the exception of one very small chip on the lip where it attaches to the fitter, entirely invisible when the shade is mounted.

These two elements, the base and the shade, make for a beautifully proportioned and functional lamp. The shade can be swiveled easily, thanks to the ball-joint device. I’ve installed an old French on-line, on-off switch about 8 inches from the base if you don’t want to use the turnkey socket (after all, it’s well over 100 years old and just how long do we expect it to last – another century?! ).

Dimensions: The lamp stands about 18 inches tall and measures 11 inches from the front of the shade to the back of the base. The base is 6 inches wide by 7 ½ inches long. The shade is about 6 inches in diameter and just over 3 inches high, including the lip.

The ideal bulb for this lamp is what's called an "appliance" bulb (which comes in one wattage, sixty watts), which is the same physical size as a traditional 15-watt bulb; when screwed into the socket, it is entirely hidden by the shade. If you use a larger bulb, you run the risk of being able to see some of the bulb from the side. If you use a clear bulb, this most likely won't bother you. The filament of whatever bulb you use will be hidden by the shade. See less