Way back in the mid '70s when I was still living at home, I bought an art deco desk/table lamp for 50c at a garage sale across the street. All I ever did to it was give it a new cord. It has followed me everywhere, but has always been in a bedroom or other private part of any home I've lived in. Most recently, it spent the last ten years sitting on a cluttered desk in a dusty garage shop. It measures about 18" tall and 14" across.
Now that I'm in a new house with a living room that needs furnishing, I've decided to make a little smoking/reading corner that includes this lamp, a leather salon chair and an art deco pedestal ash tray (purchased at the same sale for the same price as the lamp -- it will be for use with either cigars or herbal smokes, but not cigarettes). The ash tray still needs cleaning up.
The lamp is a Faries Guardsman Junior, designed by Bert A. Dickerson and patented in 1937. The finish is "Normandie Bronze" with some spun yellow brass accents. It took some serious effort to remove the many decades of tarnish on the brass, and in the process it seems I mistakenly removed some of the bronze finish on the stem, but I don't mind the look, and those brass areas will likely oxidize soon enough and darken to match the bronze. The paint on these lamps does not age well judging from on-line pictures, but some Meguiar's car cleaner/wax at least gave it a shine. Now I just need to find an original "speed ring" finial for it. That will take some doing.
Chrome plated versions of this lamp (not an original offering) go for as much as $1,800, but my lamp is probably worth a couple hundred in its current condition. I think it's time I showcased it, as I'm a sucker for anything machine age.
Now that I'm in a new house with a living room that needs furnishing, I've decided to make a little smoking/reading corner that includes this lamp, a leather salon chair and an art deco pedestal ash tray (purchased at the same sale for the same price as the lamp -- it will be for use with either cigars or herbal smokes, but not cigarettes). The ash tray still needs cleaning up.
The lamp is a Faries Guardsman Junior, designed by Bert A. Dickerson and patented in 1937. The finish is "Normandie Bronze" with some spun yellow brass accents. It took some serious effort to remove the many decades of tarnish on the brass, and in the process it seems I mistakenly removed some of the bronze finish on the stem, but I don't mind the look, and those brass areas will likely oxidize soon enough and darken to match the bronze. The paint on these lamps does not age well judging from on-line pictures, but some Meguiar's car cleaner/wax at least gave it a shine. Now I just need to find an original "speed ring" finial for it. That will take some doing.
Chrome plated versions of this lamp (not an original offering) go for as much as $1,800, but my lamp is probably worth a couple hundred in its current condition. I think it's time I showcased it, as I'm a sucker for anything machine age.
