Lady Lamp



The shade looks weirdly disproportional in this picture! Not so!

Let me repeat: I love lamps with a passion. Here is a lamp that was almost free. It took a little work, but eventually it was mine. Don't you love the lady form? Maybe not! There is a story behind this, and you know I am going to tell it to you. I have no idea where blogger is going with this format, but I am going to work with it...lol. The lamp is 52 inches tall, quite imposing. It came today from a dusty, inaccessible corner and had to go outside to remove the layers of dust!

My friend worked for an attorney who was elected as a judge. She cleaned the office and their home. They gave her an old cast-off chair, upholstered and with lots of carved wood, as best as I can remember. My friend put it in her yard sale. She said she would never get it upholstered. I kept the chair another ten years, enrolled in an upholstery class, and was ready to upholster it.

I wanted the sofa my friend said that matched it and her employer kept. So, I asked permission to call the employer with news I had bought the chair and would like to purchase the sofa. The woman was thrilled to hear from me because the judge's father had died as well as the mother, and the sofa was now a sentimental item. She had been trying to figure out who had the chair so she could get it back and have both upholstered. Finally, she upholstered the sofa and kept wondering where the chair was.

Being a sentimentalist, I thought the chair belonged with the family and the sofa, so I told her I would sell it back. Since I had already stripped it and spent hours and weeks on it, I was not willing to sell it cheap, She wanted to barter instead of paying me.

She invited me to her home to see what deal we might find mutually agreeable. She just showed me things in different rooms she was willing to part with for the chair. I had made it clear that some cash would be part of the deal. When I saw this lamp, I asked nonchalantly if it was something she would part with. She looked at it for about a minute and said, "Yes." I wanted $35 and the lamp. She was willing to give $20. Finally, I got it back up to $25, just by standing firm. She wanted the chair more than I wanted the lamp. Actually, I wanted the chair more than the lamp!

I am not sure if the capodimonte shade was original to the lamp. What do you think? I know no history of the lamp or its worth. If you know, please enlighten me. I just love it, no matter its worth.  

I paid $35 to my friend for the chair, got back $25 and a lamp on the trade. We both were happy. Yes, this lamp, like this lamp, is just my style. I still cannot describe my style. Can you?

Can you see the fringe on the shade, blowing in the wind? The wind kept knocking the shade where it was not center of the lamp. The shade is attacked to the rod on the back f the lamp, so the shade has to be adjusted to sit just in the center. Clear as mud?

Now, the dusted lamp and shade are waiting for two boxes the right size. 

details

I love the bare toes on the rocks, the clinging gown, the arm full of grapes, exquisite hands and fingers, the amphora, all the little details. 

The lampshade it coming apart in places, so I need to recover the lampshade frame. Some day!

Your turn

Can you see how much I love/like lamps and the kinds I love/like? Maybe it is not your cup of tea? Do you love lamps, too? Do you have a story to share of a lamp acquisition?