How to identify and learn about antique lamps?

A. Hi Vicky
If you know something about the provenance of this lamp which gives you actual reason to think it might be valuable, you should google "antique appraisers" in your area or "on-line antique appraisers"; but otherwise it's likely that the appraisal cost may exceed the value of an unknown lamp.

So if you have no actual reason to think it's valuable, the best strategy is probably to look for similar lamps on eBay [adv: similar lamps on eBay] and Etsy and such places to get a feel for what people are asking. Don't worry, you don't need to find the exact lamp because things are only worth what someone will pay for them and the odds of someone paying far more for yours than for a quite similar one are very slim.
Best of luck,


Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

A. Hi S.
I like Antiques Roadshow and hope you do as well. But you shouldn't get the idea from it that old lamps are inherently valuable -- they're certainly not. There are tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, of old lamps out there that nobody really wants, available for $20 and less :-(

As on Antiques Roadshow, please tell us what you know about the provenance of this lamp before asking others to figure it out. Also, please tell us whether it's magnetic. Thanks!

If you have good reason to think it's quite valuable, there are lots of online appraisal sites who will give you a valuation for a fee. If you don't have good reason, look for similar stuff on eBay. Luck & Regards,


Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

A. Hi L., Anything is possible, but my guess is that it's brass, and somewhere in the cleaning process the brass became "de-zincified" (copper enriched on the surface due to the zinc dissolving). If so, please see thread 35145 for pictures and the solution.

Luck & Regards,


Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

A. The only dead easy step is to test it with a magnet. If it's magnetic, it is plated steel or iron rather than either brass or copper. Copper is not as strong and stiff as brass, and also more expensive, so it usually isn't used for lamps except when you want the color of a penny; brass is much yellower, bronze is browner.

A. Hi again. The greenish color says it's partially copper, and whether it's brass, bronze, or copper, most metal polishes will be safe.
Luck & Regards,


Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

A. Hi, Joe. Pure copper tends to be softer than brass as well as more expensive, and far less likely to be used in making things. But I'm not sure that your question is quite as meaningful as you'd like it to be ...
Brass covers thousands of alloy of zinc and copper, generally ranging from about 60% copper (muntz metal), through 70% (cartridge brass) on up to about 85% (red brass). If the table is the color of a bullet cartridge, or most lamps, or a bell, or the brass stanchions for the velvet ropes at a movie theatre, I'd call it brass.
Copper is closer to being pure; at about 99.3% it is called pure copper, but somewhat less than that for what are called dilute copper alloys. The impurity metals may be zinc, or lead, or iron, etc. If it's the color of a penny or a piece of wire or the bottom of a Revereware pot, I'd call it copper.

If you have a good friend who works at a scrapyard or metals warehouse, they may have access to a hand-held "alloy sorter" [on eBay or Amazon], otherwise x-ray fluorescence analysis to come up with an exact grade or exact chemical analysis, would probably be expensive. Why must you give it the name brass or copper with such positivity?

A. Hi Teri. This site focuses more on metal finishing issues than Antiques Roadshow issues. But if you mail a photo to mooney@finishing.com we'll post it here, which will increase your likelihood of getting a response.

Without a picture or any markings, there's probably no way to know that an artist/craftsperson didn't fabricate it yesterday :-(   Good luck.

Regards,

A. Hi Gloria. Cast iron and steel are strongly magnetic. Brass, bronze, and copper are non-magnetic. Zinc is also non-magnetic and commonly used today as a base/substrate for plating onto, but zinc was probably not used in very old lamps.
I suspect that those lamps are very heavy and that they are either mostly cast iron or cast brass depending on what the magnet tells you.
Luck & Regards,

Mr. Ted, thanks for your reply. I tried a magnet and the product is nonmagnetic. As I examine these lamps I really think they were urns converted to lamps in the 30s-40s.

A. Hi Tracy. I can see a line running top o bottom through that lamp base and am guessing it's a parting line from a sand casting or die casting, but that's all I can tell. I'd probably just call it an old brass lamp.

My suggestion is to use it if you like it, or put it in the attic if you don't. Anything is possible, including a discarded lottery ticket you find in the trash actually being a big winner, but for the most part there is much more of this old stuff around than people presently want, so it has no real value. You'll probably see similar stuff on eBay for under $35, and remember that the posted prices are usually what people are asking, not what they are getting. You can get it appraised but most times the appraisal cost will exceed the appraised value. But times are always changing and your great granddaughter may consider such things treasures :-(

Luck & Regards,

Hi Chris. J B Weld epoxy [on eBay or Amazon] is shockingly strong and would probably fix it. Few readers here including myself have much experience with antiques, let alone would be able to judge them from pictures ... but I would not touch that one until it is evaluated by a knowledgable antique dealer. My wild guess is that this is something quite valuable.

Luck & Regards,

A. Hi. Looking at the electric wiring, which doesn't enter the bottom as it conventionally would, but through a small hole in the side that doesn't look big enough for anything but modern plastic insulated wire might mean that the lamp is not really old, or that it wasn't originally an electric lamp but something else converted to electricity.
Is there any indication that it might have originally been made for candles or possibly gas? Is there any old wiring (round, fabric covered)? Artifacts of a different use in earlier times?
I'm certainly no antique expert, but if you don't want to take it to one, we'll probably have to just say "it is what it is", which seems to be a charming, very eclectic modern looking shade, on a rustic lamp, with weird votive glass auxiliary lamps :-)
Luck & Regards,

Dee, where did you get yours, any idea of its age? So far, they seem to come from TN, KY or GA. Do your globes match Cynthia's or do they match Melinda's? Which globes are the originals, if either, might be a hint for other readers to be able to help you :-)
Luck & Regards,


Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

A. Hi Theresa,
When you see hollow bulb-like shapes and flowery patterns, they were manufactured by casting. The weight tells you it's not aluminum, the lack of magnetic attraction tells you it's not steel or cast iron. That probably only leaves die cast zinc, brass, or bronze. Zinc corrodes pretty readily, brass & bronze much less. So going just from the pictures, what you've told us, and the fact that countless lamps are die cast zinc or include die cast zinc pieces, my guess is that it's die cast zinc, but I don't have enough experience with very corroded zinc and brass to be sure just from pictures that it's not brass.

It looks like thosee might be tanks for lamp oil.
Luck & Regards,

A. Hi again Teresa. What you are using is probably fine, but the issue is that the base and legs are severely corroded away. Unfortunately there is no "cleaning" that back to anything resembling original condition because the metal isn't even there anymore.

The best you are going to be able to do is find a paint that is as close to the color and texture you seek as possible. Even so, if you want to do the best job possible you might want to squeeze/trowel on, and subsequently sand, some body filler [on eBay or Amazon] to smooth things out before painting.
Luck & Regards,