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← JournalGuide · 1940s–1960sPost-war American lampsAfter the Second World War, Americans bought table lamps the way they bought furniture. Many were assembled from parts made in different countries, and knowing where each part came from tells you a lot about a lamp.Quondam Redux · Guide by periodIn this guideLamps sold as furnitureMade abroad, assembled at home“In the style of” is not a makerChinese and Japanese sourcesWhat we look forView photographReticulated porcelain jar lamp, 1960s, labelled SEYI Fine China, Nagoya · From our archive.Lamps sold as furniture.In the years after the war, lamp bases became a staple for American potters. They were sold through furniture showrooms and chosen to suit a room, and the best were made by studio potters.William Manker made his at his studio in Padua Hills, California, slip-casting the bodies and building up the glaze in layers so the color looks deep. Our Manker lamp kept its original bouclé shade, woven with gold thread, and when we took it apart to clean it we found the studio mark hidden under the wood base.View photographThe Manker lamp’s original woven shade, from our archive.Made abroad, assembled at home.Marbro, a Los Angeles lamp company, assembled lamps around ceramic jars and wood stands imported from abroad, adding American electrical parts and its own label. Our Marbro lamp follows the form of an archaic bronze wine vessel, with relief patterning and phoenix handles, and its sticker still sits between the sockets.Blanc de chine porcelain lamps took a longer route. Pierced white porcelain bodies were made in China, assembled with other parts in Japan and sold in the United States as Japanese products. Ours still carries its red and gold SEYI Fine China label from Nagoya, and a small light inside the body that glows through the pierced work.“In the style of” is not a maker.Decorators of the period loved archaic, Asian-inspired forms. The designer James Mont became known for them, and many lamps of the time borrow his features: urn shapes, rough and polished surfaces side by side, dark carved wood.Our cast brass urn lamps are a good example. We describe them as in the style of Mont and don’t claim more. A resemblance tells you about style, not about who made a lamp.Chinese and Japanese sources.Many of these lamps draw on Chinese and Japanese art: bronze vessel forms, phoenix handles, blanc de chine porcelain, cherry blossom. We describe those sources plainly and specifically, and when a lamp is an American interpretation rather than an import, we say that too.What we look for.Labels and stickersCompany stickers and inspection labels often survive under a base or between the sockets. They can name a maker that style alone cannot.The original shadeA shade made for the lamp, like Manker’s woven drum, is part of the design and worth keeping.Built-in featuresThree-way sockets and night lights were part of the appeal. We tell you whether they’re original and whether they work.True pairsMatching numbers or marks, like those on a pair of 1930s alabaster lamps in our archive, show that two lamps were made together.

From this periodIn our archive and collection.Looking for something like these? We can search for a piece from this period.Marbro ceramic jar lampMid-century · Ceramic$495AvailableView in the shop ↗William Manker studio pottery lampLate 1940s–1950s · CeramicSold · ArchiveSource something like this →: William Manker studio pottery lampReticulated porcelain jar lamp1960s · PorcelainSold · ArchiveSource something like this →: Reticulated porcelain jar lampRequest sourcing →Explore the Archive →

More from the journalKeep reading.Notes from this periodMaterial & makingHow to read a William Manker lampWhat its glaze, fittings and original shade tell you, and the studio mark we found hidden underneath.AttributionWhat “in the style of James Mont” meansWhy we describe a pair of 1950s brass urn lamps as in the style of James Mont, and never as made by him.PreservationThe Marbro lamp: what’s original and what’s newOur Marbro jar lamp keeps its original ceramic body. Here is exactly what we replaced, and why we list it part by part.More guidesGuide · 1880s–1920sVictorian, Tiffany and Arts and Crafts lampsElectric light reached homes in these decades, and lamp design went in several directions at once: ornate Victorian parlor lamps, practical desk lamps, Tiffany’s leaded glass and the plain, handmade look of the Arts and Crafts movement.Guide · 1920s–1940sBauhaus, Art Deco and the first task lampsBetween the wars, designers rethought the lamp from the bulb outward. Some stripped it down to glass and metal, some made it glamorous, and some engineered it to put light exactly where it was needed.Guide · 20th centuryMurano and Venetian glassGlassmakers on Murano have worked color into glass for more than seven centuries. Learning to see their techniques is the first step to knowing what you’re looking at, and what you’re not.

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