Table lamp, ca. 1960

Early American style
Milk glass, fabric

The milk-glass base of this lamp imitates the shape of an early oil-burning lamp, having a round central globe that would have been a font for the oil. Opaque white glass, often called "milk glass," was extremely popular from the 1870s until after 1900. Entire sets of tableware, as well as lamps and other decorative objects, were made of milk glass. The hobnail surface of the glass is based upon early pressed hobnail patterns, which first became popular in America in the 1880s. The ruffled brown shade shows the influence of "old-time" fashion.

Gift of the Condell Fund (1991.37)

| 1960s |

© Illinois State Museum 31-Dec-96