Most of the lampshades made before the late 19th century were glass globes for oil lamps. Sometimes these would be produced in colored glass for both the lamp base and the shade. But most shades were narrow lantern-style and made of clear glass.

The first electric light bulbs were invented in the last two decades of the 19th century; Thomas Edison’s Edison Electric Life Co. didn’t develop a commercially available bulb until 1880. By 1885, 300,000 electric lamps were estimated to have been sold in the USA although they didn’t become widely used until the first decade or so of the 20th century (www.historyoflamps.com/lamp-history/history-of-electric-lamps).

The earliest lampshades were made of metal or glass. In the late Victorian era, they became more elaborate and decorative, using cloth materials, beads, lace, and fringe (www.premierlampshades.co.uk/blog/history-of-lampshades).

Today’s commercially available glass lampshades are so basic in design and color (usually white) that they’re made to be purely functional as lighting. Older glass shades strove for a more aesthetic appeal. Perhaps the most famous early examples were produced by Louis Comfort Tiffany’s company.

Tiffany’s stained-glass effects were so colorful that they were spectacular when lit from within. The earliest examples were made in 1895 and the latest in the 1920s, making them all antiques today.

Tiffany-style lamps have been made by other manufacturers that could produce them cheaply enough that more than the upper class of society could afford the Tiffany lamp look. Original, genuine Tiffany lamps are considered the ultimate prize in old electric lamps and are priced on the secondary market accordingly, from three figures to over $1,000,000 in some cases! Authentic Tiffany lamps will have TIFFANY STUDIOS NEW YORK in capital letters stamped into the metal rim of the shade or on the glass shade itself. The use of lowercase letters would mean the lamp is not authentic Tiffany. For more information on telling real Tiffany lamps from fakes, check out Kovel’s Antique Trader article on the topic (https://www.antiquetrader.com/antiques/tiffany-lamps-how-to-tell-real-from-fake).

Of course, Tiffany wasn’t the only producer of electric lamps. Among other interesting effects were reverse-painted glass lampshades, painted on the inside of the shade rather than outside (Think about what it would have been like to try to paint the rounded inside of a shade even before the shade was installed on a lamp!).

Reverse-painted lamps were made by several companies in the early 1900s such as Pittsburgh Lamp Co., Handel, and Phoenix Glass (www.southcoasttoday.com/story/news/2002/03/10/shedding-light-on-reverse-painted/50366817007).

Although lighting was not its only product, the Bradley & Hubbard Manufacturing Co. also made lamps with colorful glass shades. These were not as elaborate in color or style as those made by Tiffany, but they were works of art in their own terms. B & H lamps are characterized by fancy metal frames holding the glass in the shade. Bradley & Hubbard lamps can be found in both electrified and oil lamp form and may have a telescoping base, a feature invented by that company.

Whether we’re collectors or dealers, most of us will come across items for possible acquisition that we haven’t seen before and about which we may know little or nothing beyond a gut intuition that it’s something worth having. If we’re wise, we’ll try to find out what it is before we try to sell it.
Pricing it right and moving it out may well depend on what we can tell potential buyers about it. This, of course, begs the question of where to look for information. Our first instinct nowadays is to look for information on the Internet, AKA “the Web.”

They don’t call it the Web for nothing

Just as a spider spins its web the better to catch its unwary prey, so, too, can the unwary researcher be trapped by widespread misinformation on the Web. Especially when it comes to antiques and collectibles, websites often cannibalize from other websites that have in turn plagiarized from someone else. It would be fairly easy for an unwary dealer to get trapped in that web of hearsay and conjecture passed off as solid information – especially when what it weaves is a compelling fantasy about the value of an item. Internet auction descriptions are famous for this kind of cannibalism.

One problem with the website as an information source is that the author is often not identified. Consequently, there’s no way to judge the qualifications or credentials of whoever wrote the information except by inference from the reputation and reliability of whomever or whatever business or organization owns the website itself.

A helpful way of vetting for items you’re trying to identify is to do an image search on Google. There’s an “image” search option right there in the upper right corner of the opening search page. Clicking on any of the loaded images will bring up a link to the page of origin. Images from such a search are linked to a variety of sites, including but not limited to eBay. Checking out a few of these can usually lead to a set of rudimentary and sometimes conflicting facts that can then be used to filter further web search or lead one to look for print resources for more reliable information.

Print resources less tangled than the Web

We’re in an era where people think everything worth knowing can be found online. But books on antiques and collectibles by authors who are experts in their field are usually a better bet for reliability (some more than others). Unfortunately, many collector books went out of style and out of print as the Web took up more and more of the information space.

Even when books are out of print, you can often find copies in antique malls. Generally, books on specific topics are a better buy for information than the many generic antiques and collectibles guides that tried to touch on everything without covering much of anything. Most authors specialize in specific types of antiques and collectibles. Some (though not all) of the most reliable authors by collecting type include James Measell or Kenneth and Margaret Whitymer (glass), Gene Florence (American pottery), William A. Turnbaugh (Native American basketry), Henry Kauffman or David G. Smith (cast and wrought ironware such as Griswold and Wagner), and Nancy Schiffer or Sandra Andacht (Asian antiques). Books on maker marks are also indispensable, including (as just a couple of examples) the two books on pottery and porcelain marks by Ralph and Terry Kovel and Louis Lehner’s encyclopedia-sized book U.S. Marks on Pottery, Porcelain, and Clay.

Whatever your collecting passion, there’s probably a book about it. Note that the least reliable information in books is the price quote. Some of these books were published in the 1980s and ‘90s, and that doesn’t mean the quoted prices hold today. For collectors and dealers alike, there’s no substitute for reliable research, so do your homework!

While they’re less often used today, most readers will be familiar with egg beaters – items with a top handle and hand crank above a pair (usually) of beaters that rotate when the hand crank is turned. The first of these appeared as early as the 1850s. The earliest examples were made in the United States and in England. An early design by Dover Stamping Co. in the US was issued in 1859.

There was no standard design for these beaters, and makers experimented with a variety of forms. Most were made as independent tools to be used with a bowl of the cook’s choice, but there were also versions that were attached to a glass or metal container to hold the contents during mixing. Some were even attached to table or counter clamps similar to those used for meat grinders (“Early Rotary Egg Beaters,” Home Things Past, homethingspast.com/2012/02/19/antique-egg-beaters). Of this latter style, one 1875 housewife commented, “Ah! and what a silly was meself…to be thinking it was a coffee-mill, when I saw you a-screwin’ it on to the table!” (https://www.victorianpassage.com/2008/11/the_dawn_of_the_egg_beater/).

My mom collected old egg beaters of various forms and delighted in finding new versions. The handheld types were made in so many different forms that she had an old wooden barrel full of them. I confess it’s surprising to me that an item so relatively simple to use was made in so many different forms, the inventors of which each insisted that theirs was best.

Whisks – simple handles with non-mechanical mixing wires attached – were also popular and were used to whip lighter items such as liquids and eggs while beaters were generally used for thicker challenges such as batters or frostings. The beaters were especially useful in whipping up egg whites to make meringue, a process that, before the advent of the egg beater, took as much as 90 minutes by hand! By the 1870s, the Dover cast-iron rotary beater reduced that time for beating egg whites to a froth to just 5 minutes. Between 1903 and 1908, Clarence Taplin made a beater that he claimed was an improvement in ease of use, strength, durability – probably in no small part because it was made of a metal that wasn’t cast iron! (Terry Kerston, “The Labor-Saving Rotary Egg Beater,” Lacrosse County Historical Society from the Lacrosse Tribune, Sept. 17, 2016).

Egg beaters were made in so many different forms by so many manufacturers that they could be purchased for as little as 10 cents apiece – albeit a dime meant a lot more in the late 19th and early 20th century than it does today. When my mom was collecting in the 1970s and ‘80s, she could pick them up in antique stores and second-hand shops for less than $5 apiece. Today, depending on age and condition, each can sell anywhere from about $20 to $50 or more; at the higher end, we’re talking hundreds of dollars. Still, there were so many beaters made in so many different forms that you shouldn’t be surprised to find some much cheaper at your local antique mall. Be aware also that egg beaters have been made right up to the present day, so not all of them are antiques.

Most dealers will come across items for possible acquisition that we haven’t seen before and about which we may know little or nothing – beyond perhaps a gut intuition that it’s something special or worth gathering. For those of us who do decide to sell such items, the best strategy is to try to find out what it is before we try to sell it. Pricing it right and moving it out may well depend on what we can tell potential customers about it.

They don’t call it the Web for nothing

Our first instinct may be to look for information on the Internet, AKA “the Web.” It’s a quick information fix and may seem preferable to investing in books and other print material for research. But beware: just as a spider spins its web the better to catch its unwary prey, so, too, can the unwary searcher be trapped by the widespread misinformation on the Web. Especially when it comes to antiques and collectibles, websites often cannibalize – usually word for word – from other websites that have plagiarized it from someone else and so on, back and back to the original source which as often as not will not know what it’s talking about. It would be fairly easy for an unwary dealer or collector to get trapped in that web of misinformation – especially when it weaves a compelling fantasy about the value of the item.

You can search eBay auctions, current and completed, and sometimes find other items the same as or even identical to the item in your own possession. Remember, though, that eBay is only one source of internet information, and when I really want to find reliable information on a piece, I’ll often exclude eBay (by adding the phrase ¬–eBay¬, with the minus sign, to my search terms).

Another way of searching for like items to yours is to do an image search. Most people have access to Google, and there’s an “image” search option right there in the upper right corner of the search page. The images come with a URL where they can be found; clicking on a particular item will also give you a link to the page where you can find the item. The images that come up will be found on a variety of sites, including but not limited to eBay.

Print source alternatives

Back in the 1980s and ‘90s, collector books were being published by the dozens. There often were entire floor-to-ceiling shelves in large bookstores that were devoted to what seems to have been a peak consumer interest in antiques and collectibles. Today, one is lucky to find a couple of shelves modestly stacked with books that would be only generally relevant for our trade. Many of these will be mere “price guides” with photos and brief captions that include a suggested value (which unwary readers may take to be the value but which is often inflated). Sandra Andacht’s and Judy Schiffer’s books come to mind as sources of reliable value information on Asian porcelains. Unfortunately, some of the best books are out of print, but you can still find them on eBay and used book sites.

James Measell has several books on Fenton and other American art glass still in print, and I don’t know anyone alive who has more knowledge of collectible American glassware than he does. While I have nowhere near Measell’s expertise, I have made it a point to do research on what I collect and have written books that are still in print or in process of release on Fenton Art Glass and on Lladró porcelain. I provide in-depth information to support my estimates of value.

Whether you are a collector or a dealer, don’t rely on rumor or online auctions alone to identify your inventory. The more dealers can show they know what they’re talking about, the more customers will trust their inventory.

The history of tea and its dispersion is not entirely known nor clearly understood, but it appears the first tea appeared in China at least as early as 350 BC. Eventually, tea drinking would expand across the world, to North and South America, Europe, India, Africa, and Japan.

In its earliest imported form, tea was considered a delicacy, highly prized and extremely expensive. Early tea caddies were made of wood (e.g., mahogany, walnut, and rosewood). They were equipped with lock and key to protect the precious contents.

Tea’s worldwide range led to many antique tea-related instruments for storage, brewing, and serving. Teapots came into use in China during the Ming Dynasty in the 16th century. Prior to the advent of the teapot, tea leaves were either chewed or ground into a powder that was mixed with hot water in tea bowls. The tea bag wasn’t invented until the 20th century, according to an article from NPR.
In China, tea was a celebratory and somewhat formal drink on occasions such as weddings and other family gatherings. A full tea set would include at least the teapot, teacups, tea strainer, kettle tray, and tea leaf holder.

The East India Co. in China had a monopoly in worldwide tea distribution until the 1830s and, like most monopolies, was able to name its price. Once tea started to be imported beyond China, prices began to moderate.

Teapot History

Earliest teapots from China were made of fired clay. The first European teapots were made of silver and looked like coffee pots, coffee also having reached Great Britain in the early 17th century, according to the Victoria & Albert Museum.

Porcelain teapots came into vogue later in the 17th century in China, which exported the form to Europe. Silver and other metal mounts “were also used to mask cracks or breakages to the handles, finials and spouts, caused by the perilous sea journey,” according to the museum.

By the 16th century, Japanese potters had moved the handle from the side to the top of the teapot, and most of these top handles were made of woven plant materials such as bamboo and reed. These were inherently non-durable, so most such handles are either missing or replaced with later materials.

Tea Strainers

Utensils called “mote spoons” came into vogue in the 17th and 18th centuries. Steeped tea could be poured through the perforated spoon, which would strain out the tea leaves. These spoons, which had long handles, weren’t entirely successful at keeping out the leaves from the cup. Thus, they gave way fairly soon to other forms of tea strainer that kept the leaves enclosed and away from the tea water.

Tea strainers as we would eventually come to recognize them were a 17th-century invention. They eventually came in a variety of shapes, but the earliest ones were ball-shaped. Tea strainers consist of screening to enclose the leaves, keeping them away from the hot water in which they are steeping.