Antique Art Deco Lamps Are Still Well Loved -- Even Today!
The art deco movement was a very popular design practice from 1925 until 1939. Most of what remains from the art deco time period is found today in the decorative arts and visual arts arenas. Interior design, architecture, industrial design, painting, graphic arts and film are all represented. In some ways, art deco is a blend of several styles of the 20th century, including Neoclassical, Constructivism, Cubism, Modernism, Bauhaus, Art Nouveau, and Futurism.
The art deco movement was most popular in Europe during the 'roaring twenties' and stayed popular in the United States throughout the 1930's. Unlike some traditional design movements, art deco had no basis in politics or philosophy; it was purely decorative. Many fine examples of this period are still very popular today, including jewelry, paintings, furniture and antique art deco lamps.
Many antique art deco lamps consist of human figures holding illuminated globes. Very few antique art deco lamps are fuel (oil or kerosene) lamps; most are electric (and a wise owner would replace the wiring before use!). Often, the glass globes are made of several different pieces and colors of glass, held together in designs by amalgam. It is possible to purchase antique art deco lamps for modest prices, but many of the more unique and decorative pieces sell for well in to the tens of thousands of dollars! Because antique art deco lamps have remained popular, it is fairly easy to find replacement globes and other parts for them.
Art deco design is fairly simplistic and is based on geometric shapes. It was generally hailed as a very eclectic interpretation of elegant, modern structure and was influenced by several sources. Some of the sources that are generally considered to have been influential are the "primitive" arts of Africa, Egypt, and Aztec Mexico. Also influential are the streamline technologies just on the horizon in the 1920's and 1930's, such as such as aviation, electric lighting, radio, ocean liners and skyscrapers.
Popular themes in antique art deco lamp designs were trapezoids, zig zags, many geometric and jumbled shapes. Under these influences, art deco relied heavily on materials such as aluminum, stainless steel, lacquer, inlaid wood, sharkskin. In antique art deco lamps, multiple colors and shapes of glass were relied upon to carry these themes forward.
Stepped forms and curves, chevron patterns, and the sunburst shape are often seen in art deco, and especially in antique art deco lamps. Art nouveau, on the other hand, relies more on natural, sinewy curves and shapes. One of the hallmarks of the art deco period involved taking the design elements and using them in unlikely places. For example, it was common to see sunburst patterns on shoes, the spire of the Chrysler building, or on radiator grilles.
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