Antique Art Deco Lamps

Vanessa Weber Interior Design Expert

Vanessa is a New York-based designer specializing in architectural lighting. Whether you are planning an event, want to illuminate your backyard retreat or simply need advice on what lamp to purchase for your bedroom, Vanessa will be more than happy to share her knowledge and expertise.

Updated 18/04/2021

For fans of the art deco style, we now offer a collection of antique art deco lamps. These lamps are very fetching and will complement any home where put in. Because they are antique, you can guarantee they are well made, and the art deco style will go well with most modern decor schemes. See collection for more.

Buying Guide

Antique Art Deco is one of the most recognizable styles from the past. With an affinity for geometric shapes, cubism, and futurism, items that are antique art deco-styled are still very attractive for many homeowners, including lamps!

Keep in mind that choosing the right antique art deco lamp that's right for your situation can be a tricky task. Not only is the plethora of choices really confusing, but there are also critical factors that you need to be aware of. To help you make the shopping task enjoyable, this article is going to be a buying guide.

Do you want a real antique art deco lamp?

When shopping for an antique art deco lamp, you will usually run into lamps that are either a real antique or just antique-looking.

Antique-looking is a new piece that's been designed and crafted to have an appearance of being old. The advantage of antique-looking is that you are sure about the build quality. After all, it's a new item. It's also more affordable than a real antique. However, antique-looking does not carry the real antiques' authenticity, history and value appreciation.
A real antique comes with a lot of history, and it comes with authenticity. In essence, it's not a "fake" item. If you are shopping for a real antique art deco lamp, keep in mind that you have a lot of factors to consider in order to avoid buying something that is fake. For example, you need to assess the condition. You also need to know how to appraise an antique. Also, most of the times, knowing who to trust is more important than the item.

What are the types of lighting in antique art deco lamps?

At the end of the day, you are still buying a lamp. Hence, you will need to know more about lamps so you'll know what to get. In interior design, lighting can be either ambient or task.

Ambient lighting is for providing general illumination, while task lighting is for providing you with light to help with a particular task (i.e. reading, drawing, drafting). The general characteristic of ambient lighting is it tends to project light upwards and sideways.

On the other hand, task lighting primarily projects lighting downwards. Hence, before you shop for an antique art deco lamp, you need to know what kind of lighting you are looking for. This is because lamps that are excellent at ambient lighting does a poor job at task lighting, and vice versa.

Of course, some lamps can do both. However, these kinds of lamp often fall into the "jack of all trades, master of none" situation.

Should I choose a table or floor lamp?

You also have the option of buying either a floor lamp or table lamp.

A floor lamp often works well in communal areas of the house like the living room. Since floor lamps are also larger than table lamps, they are commonly used as ambient lighting.
Table lamps are often used for creating a warm and cozy atmosphere. Hence, it's the primary choice for the private areas of the house like bedrooms. Also, table lamps are often excellent for task lighting.