Glass shade for monumental overlay lamp
Artist
Unknown
CultureAmerican
Dateca. 1860
MediumMold blown, frosted, and cut glass
Dimensions11 3/8 × 9 in. (28.9 × 22.9 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase
Object number2019.3a
On View
Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 116-3, Case 25
The lampshade (or “globe”) is made of mold-blown, colorless glass. It is globular at its lower section, its sides curving upwards gracefully to a neck, and the top section flares slightly outwards to an overhanging lip. The surface of the lampshade is chemically frosted on its exterior, and this frosted surface is cut through to reveal transparent glass beneath. This cut decoration includes grape cluthsters, leaves, and vines (around the globular body); vertical facets with rounded terminations (around the neck); and a wreath of oval facets (around the overhanging lip).
Label TextBoston & Sandwich Glass Co. Sandwich, Massachusetts Kerosene Lamps, ca. 1860–85 Blown, cased, and cut glass with marble and ormolu (applied gold) Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.4867–.4869 Lampshade, ca. 1860 Mold-blown, frosted, and cut glass with Plume & Atwood Manufacturing Co. Waterbury, Connecticut Duplex Burner, ca. 1870s–80s Brass Museum purchase 2019.3 The geometric shapes cut into the glass of these lamps resemble the windows of Gothic cathedrals and details from Moorish architecture. Such designs made them very appealing to nineteenth-century Gilded Age American consumers, who sought objects with elaborate details and historical inspiration. Only the wealthy could afford these large kerosene lamps, in part because they required constant upkeep. At home, servants would trim the wicks, refill the oil font, polish the gold finishings, and clean the smoky glass shades.ProvenanceLampshade- acquired by Stuart Feld of Hirschl & Adler Galleries from a New England antiques show.
20th century
20th century
20th century
