Table Lamps

Many a table lamp was something else first. Table lamps rise on bases of porcelain, stoneware, bronze, brass, carved wood, alabaster and stone. Chinese porcelain and bronze vessels, Japanese ceramic jars, Indian brass, carved Balinese figures, French bronze and Italian alabaster were often a vase, a jar or a temple ornament before they became lamps. Under a silk or paper shade, glaze and patina glow. A pair on a sideboard or at either end of a sofa gives a room symmetry; one heavy stoneware lamp on a desk gives it warmth at night. A second career, and a good one.