I don’t know about you but my favorite season is fall. Possibly because of the crisp air and the falling leaves. Even with a bit of the warmth of spring in the air, I still reminisce about the last fall with its crisp cool nights and the brilliant colors.

I find myself, while on the hunt for dinnerware or other glass treasures, hunting for ones that are mindful of my favorite season, and using them for things like Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas, particularly if there will be company at my house for the holidays.. Lets face it, with some of the patterns we collect, its never too early to get hunting for the things we want, since we’re likely not going to be able to gather up the entire set in one fell swoop unless we are really, really lucky.

When I went out to the department store to find enough dishes for the last gathering in a pattern that I liked, the price tag had me gasping for air. While I love Royal Doulton, gathering up service for 15 on my budget just wasn’t what you might call practical … The price tag at the store was a bit on the exhorbitant side, the reasonably priced white bone with the gold rims won’t go in the microwave and I did have to draw the line at eating Thanksgiving from pretty patterned paper plates,  so I went internet shopping. Don’t you just LOVE shopping on the internet? What on earth did we do before we could buy up our favorite old glass pattern from someone in Virginia or California and have it sent to us in a week or less.

There are always bargains aplenty on the internet, the trick is knowing where to start, and more to the point, what to start with. How do you get the best buy for what you have to spend?

The answer is invariably depression glass. Depression glass, which is in essence, dime store glass thats yesterdays answer to the people who had no money to speak of, and wanted something pretty to put on their table. It was passed out as a premium in many cases, at gas stations, in laundry soap and many other areas, and there were literally thousands of different kinds and hundreds of different patterns.

I”ve found that the gorgeous fall colors are among the least collected oddly enough and the most reasonably purchased, so that you can find a beautiful amber, topaz or deep green , and the patterns may range from Columbia, Diana, Florentine, Iris and Herringbone, Lincoln Inn, Diamond, Waffler, Camero, Jubilee, Lorain, Princess, Rosemary and many others.

If you start shopping now, chances are you’re going to have found enough of your chosen pattern and color and purchased it, to have it all in stock by the time that autumn rolls around again, and no matter what you use it to serve, it will never look quite so pretty.
Happy Shopping.

For many years depression glass has been reproduced by companies all over the world. Some of the patterns and things you may see from those companies are listed below. (We gratefully acknowledge the research work of the Glass Reproduction website, as well as About.com  for some of this information).

Adam
Butter dish- on the green reproduction you will see that the veins in the leaves on lid do not join or touch in center of leaf, bottom: on the old, large leaves point to center of each side (north, south, east, west) on the reproduction, they point off center (northeast, etc) very poor mold quality will show up  on both top and bottom.

Avocado
Avocado was originally made in pink, green and crystal: white pitcher & tumbler sets  were made by Indiana Glass in the 1950’s. Yellow, red, blue, amethyst and frosted colors are all reproductions which were made by Tiara  from 1974 through the 1980’s. Pink and green were also made by Tiara but are different from the original colors as follows: new pink has an orange-ish tint rather than the soft pink of the old color. The newer  green is darker than the original one was.

Baltimore pear
Compote, marked with a paper label on the base, made in France.

Cameo
The Shakers have been made in green, pink and cobalt.  On the reproductions the patternis weak,  with a little too much glass in the bottom of shaker, and additionally the  cobalt was never originally made. Above the foot is filled in with about 1/4-1/2 of glass. Mosser company has made a line of children’s miniature sets (called ‘the Jennifer line’) with the cameo pattern. As children’s dishes were never made, these miniatures don’t present a problem telling reproductions from originals.

Cherry blossom
The following pieces have been reproduced in any or all of these colors: pink, green, light blue, delphite, cobalt, red and iridized colors. The only original colors that were made were the pink, green and delphite, and some of these reproductions are quite good so they may fool you. The round 2 handled tray, footed cake plate, cereal bowl, footed tumbler, butter dish and a divided platter are among those things that have been reproduced. As a general rule you’re going to find that the reproduction pieces are less carefully molded, with the pattern more crudely in place, branches and leaves on the blossom pattern will lack the original serrated texture of the leaves and the bark of the branch. The flowers will not look as detailed to you. The pieces are also somewhat heavier in glass than the originals.

Columbia
Juice glasses will be marked “France”

Floral Poinsettia
These shakers can be found in colbalt blue, red and deep green, which are all reproductions as none of those colors were made. The pink however was made originally and the pink reproduction is very close to that original color.
The reproduction shakers will give you a continuous threading on the screw on top, while the older one will have a pair of threads that will end prior to the mold seams.

Additionally, you will find that the pattern is on top of the base on the new shakers and under the base on the old ones, so that you have to turn them over to see the base pattern.

Florentine 1
Shakers have been found in pink, red, and cobalt. The pattern is very badly done, red & cobalt are not original colors.

Florentine 2
Pitcher & tumbler sets in red, dark green, cobalt, and two different pinks have been made. None of these colors were originally made.

Iris & herringbone
The reproduction iris & herringbone, 6?, crystal, water tumblers, and the originals are both the exact same size. They both have the smooth rays on the foot. Although the repro’s ray edges may be just slightly sharper than on the originals, but it’s probably way too close for the novice collector to tell the difference. The herringbone pattern is one key. It’s not even near as clear, sharp and vivid as on the originals. But still close enough to fool even a good eye.
Now…just like on the 6 1/2? ice tea tumbler, one quick way to tell the difference is, flip your tumbler upside down. Can you see the “mold” line at all on the foot? On the originals, the “mold” line is “very” visible when you look at it from this perspective. However, with the reproduction tumbler, if you have a very good eye and or an magnifying glass, you might could see the “mold” line when looking at it from the bottom side. If you have to look that hard to see it, it’s probably an reproduction.

One other way to tell is, on the original 6? water tumbler, just like on the original 6 1/2? ice tea tumbler, there are (4) sides to each of these tumblers. Let me explain. There are (4) iris flower designs. The two opposite each other should be exactly the same identical design, matching each other perfectly. If there’s any difference at all, then it’s probably an reproduction.

You can’t tell the difference between the two by feeling the hole in the bottom of the tumbler foot. They both have the exact same type and style of hole in them both, with the exact same number of rays on the foot as well.

One sure fire way to tell if your 6? water tumbler is the “real deal” or not is, just to the right of the iris flower design, you have a very long stem, kind of thick one, coming from the bottom of the tumbler to the top edge of the flower on the right side of the flower, curving slightly to the left at the top as it ends. It has been crossed, or x ‘ed towards the top of the stem, with a partial stem. If you turn the tumbler to the exact opposite side it should match exactly. If it doesn’t and it’s only half x’ed, or not x’ed at all, it’s an reproduction. The opposing sides will not match this side, the pattern is different, but should match each other exactly perfectly as well.

Lorain
In the 1950’s, the footed sherbet with an open lace edge was produced in milk glass and avocado for use as a florist bowl – colors never made during the depression. These were probably made by anchor hocking instead of indiana – who produced lorain originally – as some have been found with hocking’s paper labels.

Madrid
In 1976, federal reissued this pattern for the bicentennial under the name “recollection”. Pieces were made in amber, but marked with a 76 in the design to distinguish old from new. Indiana glass bought the molds when federal closed, removed the 76 and made crystal. Since then, pieces have been made in blue, pink and a light ‘coke bottle green-blue’ color. The new blue is brighter than the original color, the new pink is too light. Many pieces have been made, some by combining two old items into a new one: the candlestick on a 10 inch plate became the pedestal cake stand; a tumbler on the candlestick base is sold as a hurricane lamp/vase, and the butter dish on the candlestick makes the footed candy dish. Reproductions of old pieces tend to be too heavy, the wrong color and sloppily molded. Study your depression glass encyclopedia so you know what’s original and what’s not.

Manhattan
Similar to manhattan, anchor hocking produced ‘park avenue’ from 1987-93 and then again in the late 1990’s in crystal and light ’sapphire blue.’ light blue was never made, and shapes were changed so as to maintain the integrity of the original crystal pieces. If you find something that’s not listed in the depression glass encyclopedias, it’s part of the park avenue line not manhattan.

Mayfair (open rose)
Cookie jars, shot glasses, small juice pitchers and salt/pepper shakers have been reproduced in pink (more orange than the original, green (both too dark and the wrong shade), cobalt, amethyst, red, amberina, and pink slag. The pattern is very weak on all items; pitcher and cookie bottoms lack the circular mold mark on the bottom, the shots have too much glass in the bottom.

Miss America
Reproduced in pink, green( wrong shade) red amberina, cobalt, crystal and ice blue as follows: repro flat tumblers have 2 mold seams instead of 4. Repro pitchers are missing the ice lip and the ‘hump’ in the top edge that old pitchers have by the handle to help grasp when pouring. New shakers are 3 1/4 inch tall and have too much glass on the inside – old are 3 3/8 inch tall and fill all the way to the bottom with salt. New butter dishes have a lump of glass sticking out (convex) under the knob; old are concave (curved in).

Pineapple & floral (no 618)
Indiana reissued the diamond shaped comport and the 7 inch bowl in pink, cobalt, avocado, and crystal with sprayed on colors. Only crystal was originally made so the other colors are no problem. Both items tend to be roughly molded and heavier than the originals. The new 7 inch bowls also have smooth rims instead of the wavy rim that the old bowls have.

Princess
Candy jars and shakers have shown up in cobalt, amber, light blue, pink and green. Both are poor quality, badly molded with bubbles and a greasy feel to the glass. The colors are wrong and some are marked ‘china’ with a paper label.

Pyramid (no.610)
In 1974-5, indiana produced the berry bowl, 4 part relish, and tumbler, in blue and black as part of their tiara line. These colors were never made originally.

Royal lace
The cookie jar, juice and water tumbler have been reproduced in cobalt blue. Cookie jar: the mold is very poor, with lots of bubbles in the glass and a very weak pattern. Old lids should have a mod seam running across the knob (divides the lid into 2 halves.) New ones are missing this seam. Tumblers: some are missing the design in the base. Thicker glass and shorter than the originals with too much glass in the bottom of the tumbler.

Sharon
Reproduction items in pink, dark green, blue, light green, opalescent blue, red and dark amber have shown up. Butter dish, covered candy, cheese dish, sugar & creamer, salt & pepper all have been made and can be found with “made in taiwan” labels. As only amber, pink and light green are original colors, they are the only ones to pose a problem for collectors. New sharon is poorly molded, too thick with a greasy feel and lots of bubbles in the glass. The knobs on the butter, cheese and candy lids are too high – look stretched instead of the squat, hard to grasp older pieces. The pattern on the shakers does not look like roses; instead it looks like a pinwheel. The sugar & creamer are too light and of such bad quality that they are obviously new.

Thistle
Butter dish, pitcher and tumbler.

Bubble/ruby
Anchor hocking reissued the 8 inch and 4 1/2 inch bowls in ruby. Most are marked with the anchor trademark. Hocking has also produced the ashtray, punch cups and some vases recently – all marked with the anchor trademark.

Charm
Charm reissue: charm was originally made by anchor hocking from 1950 to 1954. Complete settings – all 11 pieces – could be purchased in jadite(opaque green), azurite(opaque blue), and forest green. A 5 piece luncheon service that included the cup, saucer, 8 3/8 inch plate, 4 3/4 inch bowl and 7 3/8 inch bowl was also produced in royal ruby during this time. Occasionally, a piece of charm will turn up in white or ivory but, as these colors were not part of the normal production, they remain oddities to highlight collections of the other colors.
Charm’s square shape is very popular with today’s collectors. So great is the demand for the original issue, that anchor hocking has brought the charm shape back for the new millennium with the name “union square contemporary glass service.” touted as “an updated version of a design from the 1950’s to bring style to your table,” hocking has brought back this popular pattern. But collectors have no need to fear being taken by repros pretending to be the real thing: union square is only available in crystal(clear glass), a color that was not produced in the 1950’s. Five items are currently being sold: three sizes of bowls(4 3/4?, 6? and 8 3/4?) a 9 inch plate and a 12 inch square platter. These new items are slightly larger than the comparable original issue pieces, and the square platter is an item that is completely new to the ‘charm’ line. In the past, hocking has maintained the integrity of their older glass when they re-introduce patterns from the past. Hopefully, they will continue this practice of ‘responsible reproduction’ with union square and stay away from the original colors if they expand the line.

Early american presscut
A powder jars with lid in two sizes – 4 inch and 5 inch – have turned up. This item was never made by anchor hocking, and they are marked “italy” in the glass on both top and bottom

English hobnail
The hexagonal creamer & sugar and the oval pickle dish are being made by brooke glass and marked with a circular westmoreland glass mark. They are of very poor quality when compared to the original. The small footed nut cups are also found in many colors, some marked with an “s”, and are again not the quality of westmoreland originals.

Heritage
Both the large and small berry bowls have been reproduced for mccrory’s in amber, crystal, and an avocado-ish green. Marked with mc in the center, they are of very poor quality and mold and are easy to spot.

Jade-ite
Both martha stewart and cracker barrel stores have their own lines of jadite glass – some marked, some not. Buy from someone you trust and study your books so you know what was originally made!

Laurel (fireking)
A cup and saucer/plate (no cup ring) have turned up in a translucent green that is supposed to look like jadite. The color is too light and nothing like fire king jadite. Both pieces are marked with a diamond shape, and the numbers 402 and 4 on the bottom.

Paneled grape
Summit art glass is producing the large canister in an orange slag – never originally made by westmoreland – and milk glass. They do have the wg mark on both top and bottom, but the mold is very poor on the milk glass and easy to spot.
Sandwich – anchor hocking
The cookie jar in crystal has been recently reproduced. These are sold in catalogs with nut/candy assortments, especially around the holidays. The repro jar is larger than the original – 10 1/4 inches tall, 5 1/2 inch opening and 22 inch diameter at the widest part of the jar. The old cookie jar is 9 1/4 inches tall, 4 7/8 inch at the opening and 19 inches in diameter at the widest part. Those extra inches make the new jars seem huge.
Sandwich – indiana
Indiana reissued their sandwich pattern as part of the tiara line. Tiara exclusives was sold at home parties and touted as ‘tomorrow’s collectible glass – made from original molds.’ this basically means that they made new glass using old molds, not that the glass was old. Amber, crystal, smoky blue, teal, chantilly green, milk, and red were all produced. Most of the crystal and all the amber you find today will have been made since 1970.

Of course, as with any other type of collectible, you can go for it in a huge way, and sink a great deal of money into your new hobby, or start small and work your way up.I prefer the small and working my way up, as I don’t care to really sink a lot of money into something new until I spend a little while learning the in’s and out’s of what makes it command a given price and how to tell the good from the bad. Thats a strategy I recommend for anyone actually.

Learn all you can about what you want to collect. Get some broad based history on it, and find out what makes it valuable, and why its a great thing to collect, and something that will increase in value. Lets face it, while we don’t necessairly collect something for its inherent monetary worth, we certainly don’t want to spend 500 dollars and find out that two years from now its only going to be worth fifty.

E-Bay, that ever popular venue for turning someone elses trash into your new treasure is a great place to find lighting fixtures. Particularly fascinating to the collector recently seems to be fifties style fixtures, which are gathering up some great prices and selling rather well.

For the most part what I’m seeing go well are the table lamps and some of them are commanding great prices.
This pair of poodle table lamps currently lists on Ebay for about 300 USD, while another pair, pictured below, which are  crystal and quite perfect with just one small flaw is retailing for around 800 USD.

There are of course some lower cost lamps that are fifties decorator style, which are retailing for a lot less, assuming of course that there are more of them available perhaps and this is why they aren’t commanding the more massive figures.

This seems to me to be a great place to start if you’re interested in collecting lamps and lights, and particularly if you’re interested in fifties style decorating articles with a view toward perhaps furnishing your home in this fashion, which seems to be the trend.

The art decor lamp shown below is currently listed on Ebay for under 80 USD, making it a reasonable buy and something that you might want to start out with.

LIke any other type of collecting start small, and find out what interests you most, then specialize, and learn all you can about your particular variety of item. It will, in the long run, save you a lot of time, and probably a lot of money.

Fine crystal glassware by Anton Kusak.

Kusack Fine Crystal came into being with the dreams of a young man from Moravia who traveled to the city of Seattle.

This youthful glassmaker had a vision about what he wanted to do. Glassware and cut crystal was his passion.

Anton Kusak believed that great designs and a superior quality product would be a hit and that it would give he and his wife and family the lifestyle that they wanted from America.

His product was notably superior in both design and craftsmanship and Kusak Fine Crystal was a success not only in Seattle, but the  world over.

The company is still family owned and operated, having prospered under the auspices of the father, then the son, for nearly fifty years, and today it is run by the original glassmakers grandson, Chuck, since the mid seventies.

Kusack glass vase.

Their commitment to excellence in what they make and cut hasn’t diminished an ounce over the years and Kusak Fine Crystal is noted the world over for the quality of the crystal stemware, glassware and lamps they offer, but what truly struck us was the magnificence of the chandeliers that are produced here.

Kusak chandelier

While they are of course a bit more costly, take a look at what your money is buying..not just the sparkle of the crystal … the elegance of any room in which it resides, but a little piece of history too.

Of course Kusak also produces the most beautiful crystal stemware, wine serving sets, and amazing vases, each lovingly cut and beautifully styled.

The elegance of the pieces speaks for  itself and they will in fact be the collectors items you’ve been looking for given the craftsmanship.

If you’re in the market for something new and exciting, take a look at Kusak Fine Crystal.

How expensive is collecting glassware?

 Thats a question a lot of people have and its a reasonable one in the economy we’re facing now.
Glassware, like any other hobby, can be as expensive or as inexpensive as you choose to make it, but many people think that simply because they are on a budget, that its going to be cost prohibitive. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Let’s face it, nowadays we’re all on a budget.

Definitely if you want to collect some types of glassware,or some single variety of a given company, you’re going to pay a premium price.

For example, Fostoria or Fentonware, on the whole, are not cost prohibitive to collect, however some parts of the Fostoria collectibles will be out of range for many of us who operate on a fixed income or a budget as the biggest percentage of the world does.
Glassware can be cheap, to very very expensive to collect.

Some types of glassware were made for very long time spans and a great deal of it was produced, meaning thats its available in abundant supply so the cost will likely be lower than those which were made for only a year or so.

Then too, add in the ignorance about what you’ve got factor and you may find a piece thats very reasonable when in fact it shouldn’t be, so don’t limit yourself to seeking out only those things that you believe are within your range.

I personally purchased a Lefton China teapot just two months ago, the violet chintz pattern that I was in love with. This retails in most places for about 100 dollars US, but I found one on E-bay of all places, for about 20 dollars, with just 10 dollars for shipping. Needless to say, I snapped it up and was thrilled.

Glassware will range from 3 to 5 dollars, up to many thousands depending on what you want and what you have to spend.

The moral is, don’t let cost prevent you from beginning a new hobby that you may find enjoyable. Buy one piece per month, or one piece per three months if need be, and choose more carefully.
Additionally, don’t assume that simply because you only make a thousand dollars a month, that you’re not able to begin a collection that will be a delight to you and may actually contain some lovely pieces over time.

 Libbey Glass Company began their business life named the New England Glass Company.
They produced a wide variety of glassware, and in the end expanded their business to sheet glass and windshields, but are more widely known for their cut glass and shaped drinking glasses.

The company was, in the beginning producing multiple items including mercury glass, colored art glass, pressed glass, and a wide array of things like doorknobs and railroad lamps.
The glassware of the Libbey company was quite often decorated with gilding but was  also  decorated with cutting and engraving as well, making it well sought after.

Though the products were quality,  the company found itself in over their heads financially and was sold in 1877 to William Libbey, and was renamed accordingly, and when the purchaser passes away just five years later, it was passed along to his son.

 Edward Libbey moved production to Toledo, Ohio in 1888, where raw materials were readily available and was instrumental in making Toledo Ohio synonymous with glass production.

It was also at this point that the company became more lucrative, with the invention of a machine that could do a great deal of the world.. Workers were fired and the company, while popular, became less so in the immediate area.

(excerpted from History of Ohio )" The Libbey Glass Company became even more profitable after Michael Owens, an inventor from Newark, Ohio, joined the firm. Owens developed a machine that could automatically produce bottles, tumblers, and glass chimneys. This invention dramatically increased production. It also lowered manufacturing costs, as the company was able to fire workers now that machines could do the work instead."

The sword under the  old signature in Libbeys glass mark is their silent nod to the renowned city of steel,  Toledo, Spain, from which the name of the city in Ohio originates.

Libbey hired Joseph Locke in 1882, who was a designer from England to take over the design works and while he worked at Libbey he patented several items that are quite collected .  Some of those items include Peach Blow, Maize and Pomona,as well as Amberina, the Victorian era glass that offers the very distinctive amber to red shading as its trademark

 Libbey produced it  right up to the new century.
 It was a difficult type of glass to make since the red shading came from the use of actual gold and it was costly to make, making it quite expensive to produce, but it did give the company recognition world wide.
 In the 1920s, Amberina was in production again for a short time, and is signed quite often so the collector can identify it.

Libbey was  also the number one producer of what was called  Brilliant Cut glass from about 1878 to 1915 or 1916.The Brilliant cut was extremely highly leaded, and rumors had it using as much as sixty percent lead in the formula for its creatioin.
Lead softened the glass, making it easier to cut and added sparkle, weight and giving it that wonderful clarity of ring when lightly struck.
At the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904 the company won prizes for exhibitions of their fine glass.

The war years were slim for everyone and LIbbey stuck to making hard to break glassware for hotels and restaurants, however in about 1933 they began producing fabulous stemware, which today is sought after for collection world wide.

 The designer Douglas Nash, a former Tiffany’s man, was employed to breathe life into the  market for hand crafted high-end stemware.
 Some of the new offerings of the Libbey company that were made under Nash’s tutelage included  the Art Deco  stems, among them American Prestige, Knickerbocker, Syncopation (an ice cube shaped stem, is one of the rarest to find  today), and Embassy. Embassy was an eagle-and-star etch  that was designed especially for the US Pavilion at the ’39 World’s Fair.

The Silhouette line c.1933 by Douglas Nash had a different animal decorating the stem of each type of glass including cats, greyhounds and monkeys, with each different type of glass featuring a different animal.
 The Silhouette glassware stems came with a selection of colors: black, opalescent, or frosted crystal.

The Skyscraper stemsare very collectible and one type of Nash’s designs, the Victoria cameo etch, took more than 80 hours of engraving per glass and sold for about 2000 dollars per dozen glasses. This of course wasn’t a big seller during the depression and production of it ended in 1935.
All of these glasses, including the Brilliant cut are sought after by collectors today and fortunately with the companies mark, can be readily identified.
Libbey glassware has left its mark on collectors and given us a great deal to look for.

Many lighting sources were converted to one and then to the other.

Today antique lighting can be found that is useful in any of the sources mentioned.

Antique Lighting

Renaissance Revival and Empire designs which were wrought in crystal, bronze and wrought iron, and Art Nouveau and Art Deco period chandeliers with bronze, nickel-plated bronze or wrought iron mounts and art glass shades are part of what is available to the collector of antique lighting today.

There can also be found some very fine examples of Venetian chandeliers made of glass. We also find fine Venetian glass chandeliers.

In antique floor lamps, the Venetian glass floor lamps and Art Deco torchieres from the early 20th century are among the most sought after collectibles.

In France, antique table lamps were made in a huge array of materials.

Made of oriental ceramics, pottery, porcelain or simple glass, they were enhanced with wrought iron, bronze and sometimes gilded with gold.

There are period Art Nouveau and Art Deco lamps with alabaster, pressed or art glass shades.

Many of these have been previously converted to electricity, but those which have not been may be so very easily.

To learn a bit more about antique lighting, please visit Sparrows Lighting.

Some examples of those which were made in times past will show the quality of the hand crafting and the reason why the expense for these was so vast even in an earlier time.

Crystal & Glass Chandelier – Made in Denmark, in the first part of the twentieth century, it is octagons, made of cut crystals, which are embellished with leaf shaped molded glass.

Swedish Chandelier

Here is an example of an empire style Swedish Chandelier which was made in the last part of the 19th century.

Iron Chandelier

Iron Chandelier – made in France in the mid 1800’s this chandelier retails for about 1500 dollars today.

bronze chandelier

This example of a bronze chandelier embellished with ruby glass was made in Russia in the latter part of the 19th century.

It hangs from the ceiling from four chains which are shaped like leaves, connecting to a circular frame that also has leaf designs and holds ruby glass. Eight arms of the chandelier has 6 drop down crystals and rather than electricity holds candles. The current retail of this piece is about 6000 dollars.

Crystal Wall Sconces

Made in Sweden in the last part of the 19th Century, these magnificent Crystal Wall Sconces retail today for about one thousand dollars.

Chandeliers offer elegance, style and visions of royal style living when you see them in your mind, or in a home.

Regardless of how new the glassware chandelier is, it still seems to reproduce the aura of being of another time and another place, where life was grander and far more elegant than it is now; a bygone era that many are seeking now to reproduce.

If you are searching for the look of days gone for your home or vacation cottage, a chandelier will be among the first things you will search for.

Antique shops will be your first line to finding what you are searching for. Granted that those who shop in well known antique shops will most likely find a piece whose cost will be a bit more, they will be an easier find for you.

But for those who want to find something within a certain price range, where can you look? Estate sales will very often garner some wonderful old lighting pieces, chandeliers among them.

If you are willing to use a piece that is modern day your costs will be cut significantly and you can still get the same look as those which were made in other centuries.

There are several tips to keep in mind when seeking a chandelier to look the part of an older one.

Firstly, stay away from those which are polished steel or chrome. They are more art deco or post modern than the one you are seeking. Look for ornate pieces, with drippings of glassware, or wrought iron. Candle chandeliers will always impart a feel of an older world.

Choose one of these and it can easily be made to use electric with minimal wiring and effort.

Antique chandeliers were traditionally made of crystal, iron, rusted metals or wood, and sometimes even antlers, but very rarely or never were they shiny in looks or smooth in their feel.

To replicate the older look and feel, study the antique chandeliers in images or online and then even if you are using something made in amore modern time, to gain the look you want, you will want to replicate the materials in the chandelier that you purchase.

Nothing says style and elegance like a Tiffany work lamp.

The designs are completely unique and the state of the art glasswork and styles as well as the coloration are what make it amazing.

Unique patterns, color combinations and designs have made Tiffany perhaps the most well known name in collector glass and lamps.

In the late 1970′s and the early 1980′s Tiffany lamps popularity was astronomical. And the price skyrocketed in response to the demand for those goods.

In 1979, a single Tiffany lamp commanded a price of 100,000 dollars at auction and three years earlier they were getting less than a tenth of that.

In response, dealers everywhere began to post “not for sale” on their Tiffany lamps to wait it out and see how high the pricing could go, which began an absolute craze in finding the lamps and purchasing them, as many were not for sale at that time.

Dealers also, in consequence of the demand, began to adjust their lamp prices and sell them again.

This, in turn began a glut of the market with tiffany “style” lamps, or look-alikes, designed and made for those who wanted the style of the Tiffany lamp without paying the astronomical prices being paid for them.

These reproductions, available in many types an models were marketed extensively and caught on with he public who wanted the same style as the wealthy homes.

They sold like hotcakes.

They were readily found in any department store, and still are.

Tiffany lamps became super hot in the late 70s and authentic Tiffany lamps can now fetch one-hundred thousand dollars or much more in some cases.

By the latter part of the 1990′s the market was flooded with them, and there was one in almost every home nation wide.

This same demand also brought out the scam artists, who began to reproduce a few lamps that were look-alikes, making use of older glass, fake aging patinas, they were able to fool many otherwise smart consumers into purchasing their products before they were found out.