Fabulous Lamps – Yesterday and Today

Sure,  the  greatest lamps of all time may have been those that contained a genie, but unless you’re a Disney character –you are probably looking for something different from your lamps.  I’m talking about those little pieces of eye candy that become the jewelry of a room and or underscore a thematic in an interior.

Lamps of Yesterday:  You’ve come a long way baby.

The first lamp was invented in about 70,000 BC.  Necessity was indeed the mother of invention: You’d take a hollow rock or other hollow found object, fill it with moss that was soaked in something flammable like animal fat- and there you go. Soon enough, man was making his own objects from pottery to metal and eventually wicks were added to control the burning rate. We went from hand held torches to table top varieties.  In fact, the word lamp comes from the Greek work, lampas – meaning torch.  Oil and then Gas lamps would show up centuries later – and then thanks to the inventions o f one Tom Edison, the electric lamp would find it’s way to the scene.

Some Favorite Lamps Today

While I start thinking about overhead lighting early in a project, I usually start sourcing lamps in my projects during the last third of the design development  process..  Take a look at some of these great lamps that I am looking at for a chic family room done in shades of gray and plum. The furniture  shapes in the room range from art deco to mid century modern, with a side order of Hollywood glam.