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Victorian oil lamps, banquet lamps, and Gone with the Wind lamps are common types which take ball shades. They originated in the kerosene-burning era of the late 1800's using central draft oil burners and were designed to impress guests. The popularity of these lamps
continued well into the advent of electricity and are even today still reproduced
in a variety of styles. The
appropriate size of a ball shade is determined by its diameter at the widest
part of the ball. A rule of thumb is that the diameter of the ball should be
equal to, or slightly larger than, the fattest part of the bottom font whether
it be metal or glass.Click the diameter to see ball shades:
8" /
9" /
10" /
11" /
12"
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Miniatures
/ Banquet Lamp Shades
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 ←GONE WITH THE WIND
LAMPS: Any lamp
with a matching glass shade and font is generically called called a Gone With The Wind
or GWTW. Early oil lamp manufacturers prolifically produced this style of
kerosene lamp. It has a removable brass font which sits inside
a glass base and has a matching ball shade. Some examples also have a 10" dome or tam-o-shanter shade. Although they are named after the
popular Civil War movie in which they are seen, these lamps are actually circa 1880's. Gone With The Wind style
lamps made a huge comeback in both size and style in the 1970's but these do not
have the removable font insert.
Please be aware that because most of these lamps were hand-painted and one-of-a-kind, it is difficult, if not impossible, to find a replacement shade which will match the base. Since all of the value of the lamp is in having both the matching top and bottom, we often recommend not to purchase a shade that doesn't match exactly.
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←PIANO LAMPS:
A circa 1880's tall, adjustable-height floor lamp
(left) which takes a ball shade is most typically called a piano or organ lamp, as this was a favored location
in the Victorian era home. However, such lamps were typically lightweight so it could
easily be moved to other locations as well. Most are a tripod style that was
designed to equally distribute the weight. The correct term actually is
“extension floor lamp”, as a patented mechanism makes it possible to extend the
top by raising and locking it in place. Piano lamps have a removable center draft kerosene font, and they were also often part of a marble-top table. |
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→BANQUET LAMPS:
Other styles of lamps take ball shades also, such as Victorian banquet lamps. Banquet lamps are kerosene lamps from the Victorian
era, circa 1837 to 1901. They are generally a very ornate, tall lamps that were
designed for lighting a banquet table. Their globes were usually etched or art glass
and were often much fancier than most others in the house in order to impress guests. |
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Click HERE to go to ball shade holders
Click the diameter to see ball shades:
8" /
9" /
10" /
11" /
12"
/
Miniatures
/ Banquet Lamp Shades
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