New Owl Miniature Lamp

An American supplier of reproduction lamps and lamp parts sold a miniature owl lamp resembling a rare vintage original.

In both new and old, the owl's head forms the shade, the body forms the base. Bases and shades are molded with an owl's large eyes and beak; molded feathers cover the surface of both shade and base.

Originals are made of a single layer of solid milk glass. New lamps are clear glass cased inside with a paper thin layer of opaque white glass. Look at the rims of the new shade and you can see the two layers of glass. Originals were originally cold painted; new lamps are not painted. But many original lamps have badly worn paint so paint is not a reliable test of age. Old lamps can sell for $1500 and up; new lamps were $20 each.

Fig. 1 New reproduction owl lamp.

Fig. 2 New lamps are clear glass with a white glass casing.

Fig. 3 Original lamp with one single layer of solid milk glass.
Photo of old lamp courtesy The Milk Glass Book, Chiarenza/Slater, Schiffer, 1998.