Oil Lamps

MainTop eBay AuctionsAll Lamps SuperBrowse

About Antique Oil Lamps

An oil lamp is any vessel that holds oil, with an absorbent wick that sits in the oil and can be lit, producing heat or light. Until the 1800s various candles, pitch oil lamps, and animal fat lamps were common. Once the development of kerosene made mass producing lamps profitable, oil lamps were fabricated from metal, glass, porcelain, and other ceramics.

Collectors often focus on a lamp's chimney or shade. Earlier chimneys were hand blown, free-form, and these limited-production chimneys with peddle tops and frothed or etched designs are more scarce and in demand than later machine-made examples. Typically oil lamp manufacturers made the metal parts (the base and burner) and bought the glass elsewhere. Holmes Booth and Haydens, for example, would buy glass shades from companies like Fostoria or Consolidated...

Shades were made with a wide variety of materials. There were the plain opal shades made with milk glass, which was utilitarian and inexpensive. There was case glass, really two different layers of glass with the inside white to reflect more light and the outside colored (the green and white combination is quite common). There were art glass shades: satin glass, amberina, cranberry, and mother of pearl. They were more expensive back then and command high prices today.

About our sources | Got something to add?

▼ Continue reading

Interviews & Articles

An Interview With Antique Lamp Collector Dan Edminster

My grandparents were antique collectors all their lives, their whole house was furnished in antiques. They ha…  [more]

Lamps and Illuminants

Among old-time lamps there are certain types that mark changes in the manner of living or that are representa…  [more]

Lamps for The Early American

When one considers that man is the one animal who depends on artificial light for getting about in the dark, …  [more]

An Interview With 1950s TV Lamp Collector Mark Stevens

What got me interested in TV lamps?  I’ve always had an interest in the tackier artifacts of the 1950s and…  [more]



Best of the Web (“Hall of Fame”)

CollectLamps.com New!

CollectLamps.com

Interested in antique oil lamps? This site is a great place to learn more about their history, and scroll through b… [read review or visit site]

Neustadt Tiffany Collection

Neustadt Tiffany Collection

This stunning gallery of 138 Tiffany lamps and lampshades, part of the Dr. Egon Neustadt Collection presented by th… [read review or visit site]

The Lampworks

The Lampworks

Lamp collector and dealer Dan Edminster has put together an incredible reference site on antique lamps and related … [read review or visit site]

Classic Modern

Classic Modern

Get a taste of how homes were lit in the 50s, 60s, and 70s with the Danish retro-style lighting designs featured on… [read review or visit site]

Texans Incorporated: The History of a Lamp Company

Texans Incorporated: The History of a Lamp Company

Mark Stevens has created an impressive living memorial to Texans Inc., a 20th century Texas manufacturer of ceramic… [read review or visit site]

The Lamps of H. G. McFaddin

The Lamps of H. G. McFaddin

Bruce Bleier's tribute to the Emeralite and Bellova lampshades made from Czech glass and popularized and distribute… [read review or visit site]

Fairy Lamp Club

Fairy Lamp Club

This incredible site is a stunning showcase for Victorian and contemporary fairy lamps, a style of lamp with a glas… [read review or visit site]

Gas Pressure Lanterns, Lamps and Stoves

Gas Pressure Lanterns, Lamps and Stoves

Terry Marsh’s beautiful showcase of gas-pressure lanterns, lamps, stoves, irons, and heaters from the 1920s o… [read review or visit site]


Got a site to suggest? Let us know.




Clubs & Associations: Lamps


Other Great Reference Sites: Lamps

Are we missing one? Tell us.

Top eBay Auctions    (get weekly Oil Lamps email)

Status       Display       How this works
Early Tiffany Studios Bronze Oil Lamp Base D890$565.55 Ends Sunday 6 bids 28 watchers
Sandwich Glass White Cut To Amethyst Whale Oil Lamp$560.00 Ends Sunday 3 bids 13 watchers
Old Antique Victorian Hanging Library Oil Lamp Complete$536.56 Ends Thursday 3 bids 27 watchers
Old Antique Amber Hobnail Oil Library Hanging Lamp$529.99 Ends Monday 8 bids 56 watchers
Antique Aladdin Alacite Oil Lamp~ Lincoln Drape Wow $370.99 Ends Monday 14 bids 30 watchers
Pink Opalescent 14 In Hanging Oil Lamp Shade$350.67 Ends Sunday 8 bids 37 watchers
Blue Satin Art Glass Ftd Miniature Kerosene Oil Lamp $300.00 Ends Monday 1 bid 23 watchers
Antique Fancy B&h Oil Kerosene Banquet Lamp Marble Base$295.95 Ends Sunday 8 bids 25 watchers
Massive Double Student Harvard Wild & Wessel Oil Lamp$294.62 Ends Thursday 8 bids 23 watchers
Antique Oil Kerosene Lamp Etched W Birds Glass Shade$260.75 Ends Sunday 11 bids 27 watchers
Antique Astral Solar Oil Lamp W/ Cut Shade Electrified$249.99 Ends Sunday 10 bids 24 watchers
Ca 1909 No Melt Cast Aluminum Miners Oil Wick Cap Lamp$231.38 Ends Wednesday 7 bids 28 watchers
Antique Blue Finger Lamp W/match Holder ! Oil Lamp$227.50 Ends in 5 hours 6 bids 33 watchers
Antique Aladdin Jadite Oil Lamp With Shade $214.37 Ends Monday 6 bids 18 watchers
Rose Moonstone Queen Aladdin Oil Lamp$204.49 Ends Sunday 8 bids 29 watchers
Victorian Hand Painted Gone With The Wind Oil Lamp$202.49 Ends Sunday 2 bids 18 watchers
Large Gone With The Wind Oil Lamp Shade W/cherub Faces$199.99 Ends Monday 1 bid 5 watchers
Beautiful Antique Aladdin Model 12 Hanging Oil Lamp!!$199.99 Ends Sunday 1 bid 16 watchers
Complete Original Aladdin Piano Parlor Oil Lamp $178.49 Ends Sunday 13 bids 50 watchers
Victorian Brass Hanging Oil Lamp$175.00 Ends Monday 1 bid 8 watchers
Old Bradley & Hubbard Hanging Oil Lamp Frame Cast Iron$171.39 Ends Sunday 4 bids 11 watchers
Monumental 19th C Fostoria Glassworks Oil Lamp Nr$147.50 Ends Sunday 2 bids 22 watchers
1880 Hobbs Leaf And Jewel Opalescent Coindot Oil Lamp$141.27 Ends Sunday 6 bids 22 watchers
Antique Crandberry/ Ruby Iron Base Kerosene / Oil Lamp$141.18 Ends Thursday 11 bids 37 watchers
Antique Eapg & Coin Dot White Opalescent Optic Oil Lamp$134.50 Ends Sunday 4 bids 26 watchers
Aladdin Oil Lamp 12 Original Satin Shade & Tall Chimney$129.99 Ends Tuesday 1 bid 8 watchers
Antique Oil Bracket Lamps Frosted With Luster Flowers$129.00 Ends Monday 1 bid 7 watchers
Antique Victorian - Gone With The Wind Cherub Oil Lamp$128.50 Ends Tuesday 7 bids 21 watchers
Perfect Condition P&a Duplex Student Oil Lamp$127.50 Ends Sunday 8 bids 44 watchers
1876 Complete Perfect Nickle Manhattan Student Oil Lamp$125.00 Ends Sunday 8 bids 32 watchers
Antique Cranberry Glass Victorian Oil Lamp Candle Base$125.00 Ends Sunday 3 bids 17 watchers
Beautiful *rare* 1800's Blue Coin Dot Oil Lamp! Mint!!$113.50 Ends Sunday 5 bids 17 watchers
Antique Eapg Vaseline Glass Oil Lamp Green Pattern Base$103.50 Ends Monday 4 bids 19 watchers
Antique Dresden Porcelain Victorian Banquet Oil Lamp$102.51 Ends Wednesday 10 bids 37 watchers
Antique Aladdin Moonstone Cathedral Oil / Kerosene Lamp$102.50 Ends Saturday 2 bids 24 watchers
Aladdin Corinthian Green Glass Model 21c Oil Lamp$102.50 Ends Sunday 7 bids 24 watchers
Antique 1876 Hurricane Oil Lamp Sconce Cast Iron Holder$102.50 Ends Monday 6 bids 20 watchers
Aladdin Black White Moonstone Glass Oil Lamp & B Burner$102.50 Ends Tuesday 9 bids 23 watchers
Antique Hanging Oil Lamp Shade W/ Matching Font$100.00 Ends in 11 hours 15 bids 37 watchers
Antique Amethyst/ Purple Iron Base Kerosene / Oil Lamp$98.23 Ends Thursday 8 bids 31 watchers
Wow! Beautiful Antique Genuine Aladdin Banquet Oil Lamp$97.44 Ends Monday 18 bids 83 watchers
Ancient Greco-roman Bronze Oil Lamp - 3th-5th.a.d. *$96.00 Ends in 2 hours 21 bids 21 watchers
Odd Early Sandwich Tulip Whale Oil Lamp Fine Condition$89.99 Ends Sunday 1 bid 14 watchers
Etched Glass Beehive Oil Lamp Shade Poss Edwardian$86.75 Ends Thursday 6 bids 31 watchers
Massive Roman Silvered Oil Lamp$85.10 Ends Sunday 2 bids
Vintage Hanging Oil Lamp Shade---hobnail 14" Dia.$85.00 Ends in 12 hours 5 bids 37 watchers
White Moonstone Queen Aladdin Oil Lamp$81.17 Ends Sunday 3 bids 24 watchers
Victorian Fostoria Handpainted Lion Gwtw Oil Lamp Base$80.00 Ends Sunday 1 bid 16 watchers
Kerosene Oil Brass Embossed Hanging Lamp Font B&h$78.77 Ends Sunday 3 bids 18 watchers
Antique Gwtw Hand Painted Oil Lamp Royal Burner Ornate$77.50 Ends Sunday 6 bids 42 watchers

»» Get our weekly Oil Lamps email
Right now on eBay

Lamps

See also

Tools

My Favorite PagesNew!   (how this works)