Vintage Hurricane Lamps
Buy the best vintage hurricane lamps selected and recommended by interior designers. By Vanessa Weber.
Bring back the olden days of illuminating your home when the lights are out with vintage hurricane lamps. While you might have emergency powers installed, these lamps are perfect not just for practical reasons but for decorative ones as well. Designed with antique forms and fully functional, you can use these pieces as accent ornaments while achieving warm mood lighting. From classic lamps with helix trims to ones with curvy silhouettes, this curated lamp selection will make you want to reminisce about the past.
Vintage Hurricane Lamps
Buying Guide
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.
A hurricane glass lamp is something that every home should have, especially for the ones that are located in hurricane-prone areas. However, there's something better than a hurricane glass lamp, and that is an antique hurricane glass lamp. With it, you won't just have an emergency light source during power outages, but you'll also have a beautiful decor. Of course, finding the right antique-style hurricane glass lamp can be tricky as there's plenty of them to choose from.
In this article, we are going to help clear a bit of the confusion by providing you with a buying guide for an antique hurricane glass lamp.
When it comes to picking the right hurricane lamp, the first thing you need to know is that antique styles come in many different categories. Some of the most common antique styles are Victorian, Renaissance, Gothic Revival, and Greek. Hence, if the room is themed to the Victorian style, then you'd want an antique hurricane lamp that's also Victorian by design. The same goes if the room is Greek, Renaissance or Gothic Revival. Knowing the antique theme you want is essential as it's going to make your shopping experience easier and more enjoyable.
An antique hurricane glass lamp will come with a glass that will protect the flame from draft or wind. The glass may come in different types.
- Annealed glass is the most basic type of glass. It has the advantage of being cheap and it's readily available. On the downside, it can be hazardous when it gets broken as the shards tend to be sharp and pointy.
- The toughened type of glass is a bit more durable compared to annealed glass. It has the added benefit of being less hazardous. This is because when a toughened glass breaks, it results in shards that are small in size and squarish in shape. On the downside, it's a bit more expensive than an annealed glass.
- If your safety is your concern, then laminated glass is probably the best for you. Laminated glass has a polymeric material, which significantly reduces the chances of producing sharp glass shards when it breaks. On the downside, it's a bit difficult to find one used for a hurricane lamp, and it's also more expensive than annealed glass and toughened glass.
If you are looking for a genuine hurricane glass lamp, choose reputable dealers, especially if you don't know much about antiques and how to verify their authenticity. Not everything sold as antique really is a genuine item. Always ask questions about the origin of the lamp. If it truly is an antique, the dealer will have plenty of information about the lamp. You may also ask an appraiser to evaluate the piece.
However, the beauty of having many options is that you are not forced to go for something expensive just to have something nice-looking. There are cheaper alternatives that you can go for. For example, rather than going for the more expensive genuine antique hurricane lamp, you can buy one that is styled to look old. It's a lot cheaper, and it will serve the purpose.