If you collect antique or Victorian style lamps, you're probably going to need antique glass lamp parts eventually. It can sometimes be a challenge to find these parts.
Types of Antique Glass Lamp Parts You Can Find
An oil or kerosene type lamp is a handy thing to have around the house, especially if you have a power outage. These rustic looking, old fashioned, antique lamps can illuminate your home for hours, just like they did before electrical lighting was an option.
The type of parts you would need to restore an oil lamp include:
- Oil or kerosene burners
- Collars and caps
- Wicks
- Chimneys
- Oil tanks
- Fonts
- Shade holders
You can find many other antique glass lamp parts to help you restore your favorite antique. There are dozens of different glass lamp shades available such as:
- Cased glass shades
- Embossed glass shades
- Torchiere glass shades
- Art glass shades
- Gas glass shades
- Hand painted glass shades
- Ball glass shades
- Dome glass shades
- Opal glass shades
- Satin glass shades
- Panlight glass shades
- School house glass shades
- Hurricane glass shades
If you need chandelier parts or the glass and crystal prisms that hang from chandeliers and lamp shades, those items are available. You can also find most lamp hardware. A few examples include:
- Lamp sockets
- Lamp cords
- Switches
- Wall plugs
- Chain accessories
- Crossbars
- Hickeys
- Finials
- Knobs
- Tassels
- Caps
- Nuts, washers, seating rings
- Screws, thumb screws
- Keys, key extensions
- Ceiling canopies
- Backplates
- Lamp clusters
This is just a partial list of the replacement parts you can find for antique lamps. With so many parts available, you should be able to restore just about any kind of antique lamp.
How To Choose a Replacement Glass Lampshade
The most important thing you need to know in order to correctly choose the right glass lampshade is the proper fitter size of the shade holder on your lamp. The shade holder is the metal part that holds the glass shade on the lamp. The fitter is the part of the glass shade that actually passes through the holder to make physical contact with the lamp. The fitter size must match the size of the shade holder and the lampshade.
In order to determine the correct fitter size on your lampshade, you must first figure out what type of shade holder your lamp has. There are typically two types of shade holders for glass lamp shades. The first one is a fixture-type holder, which uses small set screws to hold the shade in place. The screws are necessary to hold the shade tightly in place because the shade is facing downwards and would fall out without the screws. The other type of holder is called a straight-type holder. This type of holder does not require screws because the lampshade is always upright. The fitter or bottom edge of the lampshade rests inside of the shade holders opening.
Shades that are designed for fixture-type holders have a lip type fitter and shades designed for a straight-type holder have a straight or lip-less fitter.
Once you know the type of holder your lamp has, you need to measure the diameter of the opening of the holder. Fixture-type shade holders and shades typically come in standard sizes such as 2 1/4 inches, 2 ½ inches, 3 1/4 inches, and 4, 5 and 6 inch sizes.
Standard sizes for straight-type holders are 1 5/8 inch, 4 inches, 6 1/4 inches, 7,10, 12 and 14 inches.
When it comes to choosing the right size replacement shade for an antique glass lamp, just remember to match your lamp's shade holder size and style to the correct lampshade fitter size.
Where to Buy Parts
Fortunately, the Internet makes it possible for just about anyone with access to a computer or other Internet enabled device, to find these antique glass lamp parts and buy them. The following online retailers can ship you replacement parts:
- Antique Lamp Supply
- 19th Century Lighting Supply
- The Antique Lamp Co.
- Hannah Murphy Hand Sewn Victorian Lampshades
If you own an antique Victorian patterned art glass lamp and are looking for high quality glass to restore your lamp with, make sure you visit 19th Century Lighting Supply . This company carries only the best art glass for Victorian parlor table lamps and patterned art glass lamps. Next, learn how to identify antique oil lamps.
