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This spectacular lamp is a bit of a mystery to me. It sold at Christies in 1989 for the huge sum of $64,000 including buyer's premium. The catalog attributes the lamp to Dard Hunter and Karl Kipp for Elbert Hubbard, so this is one of the lamps made specifically for Hubbard around 1908-1909. There is another unique leaded glass and copper lamp by Hunter and Kipp for Hubbard in the collection of the Roycroft Arts Museum and that one is pictured in period photos. I'm not aware of any period photos of this one. Note the Secessionist influence -- square rods, silver square applique, etc. Simple awesome! Large pic. It's important to keep in mind that this lamp is not a "Roycroft lamp" in the traditional sense -- it was not cataloged or made for sale, but rather a one-off. Too bad they didn't make more of these! |
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Exceptional and very rare leaded glass and copper lamp by Karl Kipp. The only one I've seen, but I'm told there are three known to exist. This wonderful lamp is pictured in Kipp's 1914 catalogue. The description reads "Table lamp, 16 inches high, with base of hand wrought copper modeled in Dragon-Fly design. The shade is of leaded glass where the same motif is used. The lead is copper-plated and the colors of the glass are soft shades of Amber Brown and Green. The Dragon Fly is in White."
I have been told that there are three of these known.
Click here for a huge pic (Cottone Auctions). Value: this one sold Cottone's for $35,000 + premium in the mid-1990s. |
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Exceptional, large, early and very rare mica and copper lamp. The only one I've seen, but this is cataloged as lamp #C-904 (pre-1919), and I was told that another one sold at auction in the late 1980s. Value: too hard to value. |
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Leaded glass and copper lamp, circa 1920-1928. This is often referred to as a "Dard Hunter design" because the glass design is similar to the work he did at Roycroft prior to 1910. He probably didn't design this lamp though, and the base is more like a Victor Toothacker design. About 24 inches high by 18 inches wide. Large photo. Photos David Rago Auctions Value: $25,000+. This actual lamp is pristine and sold for $35,000 plus premium at Rago 9/04; another, not quite as nice, sold for $20,000+premium Rago 12/04. PS -- bases alone are worth only about $5,000! One sold for $5400 Rago 3/08. |
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Another exceptional and rare leaded glass and copper lamp, circa 1920-1928. This one has a cool combination of yellow and blue glass on a brass finish base. About 22 inches high by 18.5 inches wide. Large photo. Photos David Rago Auctions Value: $25,000+. This actual lamp sold for $32,000 plus premium at Rago 5/05 |
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Exceptional and rare leaded glass and copper lamp, circa 1920-1928. Smaller version of the lamp above, this one is about 17 inches high, cream and purple glass and brass finish. Value: 15,000+. |
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Another 24 inch high leaded lamp, but much different condition then the one up above, with a refinished base.
Note the difference in value due to the condition and refinish -- $9,500 versus $35,000!!!! So believe me when I say condition is EVERYTHING!! Value $10,000-15,000 with the refinish. This lamp sold Rago's 9/00 for $9,500 + buyers premium. |
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Another leaded glass and copper lamp. Base has a nice Old Brass finish, which looks great with the caramel color of the shade.
Click here for a big pic. Value $20,000+. |
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Extremely rare lamp from the Chapel at the Roycroft campus, appropriately referred to these days as a "Chapel Lantern". Copper with cutouts and greenish-yellow and purple leaded glass. Very Secessionist design makes it "important" and museum worthy. About 8 inches by 15 inches by 9 inches. These lanterns were designed by Dard Hunter and/or Karl Kipp and originally hung from the rafters in the Chapel. They were removed at some point and scattered hither and yon, so when one shows up these days it is a very big deal. It is believed that there were eight of these lanterns hanging in the Chapel, but whether they were also made for other spots on the Campus and/or for sale is still being debated. Click here for a big pic unlit. Click here for a big pic lit. Click here for a picture of the Chapel interior showing the lanterns. Value: Too hard to value since they rarely hit the market. |
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Rare lamp with dome-shaped Steuben glass shade. About 16 inches high.
This 3-socket lamp (model #911) represents is a rare combination of Roycroft copper and Steuben glass. Roycroft began using Steuben glass in lamps around 1920. There are four different models cataloged, all of which are listed on this page. I'm told that the brown color of the shade in this example is particularly rare. With its original Aurora brown finish and all parts in excellent condition, this lamp has no excuses. Click here for a big pic. Click here for a close up of the base. Click here for a close up of the shade. Value: This lamp sold 10/02 for a whopping $16,000 plus buyers premium at a Burchard Galleries auction in Florida. This form had not appeared on the market in this condition in many years; $8500 + premium Rago 12/04. |
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What do you do if you find a model #911 base without the original 10 inch gold Aurene intarsia-border shade? One solution is you put another Steuben shade on it, in this case a 9 inch green intarsia shade. Another solution is to have a shade made. I call this one: "The lamp Roycroft SHOULD have made!" |
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Another rare Steuben glass shade lamp. This one is model #914. Single socket, and about 15 inches high. Original Aurora brown finish in excellent condition.
Click here for a nice big pic of another example of this lamp. Value $6,500-7,500, although one sold in 1998 for the oddly high price of $9,500. |
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Rare strapwork lamp with gold Steuben scalloped glass shade. Model #913, about 15 inches high, single socket. This lamp seems to show up less often than model 914 above.
Click here for a big pic. Here for another fine example of this form Value: I would guess $6,500+. |
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Another Steuben shade lamp, this time with colored bubble glass. Model #919, single socket, about 16 inches high (including the rather tall finial). Very rare combination of Roycroft copper and mutli-colored bubbly Steuben glass. This is the only one I've ever seen sell, at Rago's in the mid 1990's. Original Aurora brown finish in excellent condition.
Value $3,500+. |
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Rare Bankers Lamp. Nice attractive form and construction details. Note the "indian" design that also shows up in desk sets. This lamp does not show up in any catalogue that I've seen, and I can't find any recent auction results for this form. However, I asked around and I know that there are at least two more (in private collections). Original Aurora brown finish in excellent condition. Middle mark. Click here for a nice big pic. Value: Estimating at $3,500+ until I get some auction results. |
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Mica panel lamp. About 14 inches high by 7 inches wide. This lamp appears in an "earlier" form with a heavier weight copper shade (sometimes without mica panels), and a "later" version with a lighter weight shade. This particular lamp is "later". Original Aurora brown finish in very good condition. Value of this form has ranged within the past couple years from under $2,000 to over $4,000, with no apparent logic or consistency. Assume an average value of $2750-3,500 for this form. [Auction prices: $3,450 gd cond. ebay 2/00; $3,404 ex. cond 4/01 ebay] |
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Mica panel lamp. About 14 inches high by 7 inches wide. Same lamp as above but in a brass finish with a bit of wear and a few minor repairs. Note that the hardware (fonts, finials, sockets, switches) on these can vary from lamp to lamp. The gap between shade and base will vary based on the hardware used on a particular lamp.
Value: in this finish and condition about $1500-2250. |
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Helmet form lamp. About 13 inches high by 6.5 inches wide. This is the most frequently seen Roycroft lamp form. Original Aurora brown finish in excellent condition.
Value $2,000-2,500. Auction prices: $1825 brown slightly cleaned shade ebay 1/01; $1600 plus auction premium average condition 10/05, $1650 vg cond. ebay 4/06. |
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Helmet form lamp. About 13 inches high by 6.5 inches wide. Original Old Brass finish in excellent condition.
Value $1,500-2,000. Auction prices: $1800+15% fair cond. Rago Auctions 1/01. $1000 good condition ebay 12/05; $1324 vg cond. ebay 1/07. Click here for a big pic of another version with some wear. |
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Helmet form lamp. Note the difference in the shape of the shade versus the two lamps above -- a little less flare in the rim. Early marked, probably an earlier lamp. I'm not sure about the finish, could be an earlier brown which would be consistent with the form, or could be an aged old cleaning. This lamp may also have had a minor repair to the shaft.
Value $1,250-1,500. Auction prices: this lamp sold for $1226 ebay 1/02; $1125 fair condition ebay 2/05.
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Helmet form lamp. About 15.75 inches high by 6.75 inches wide. This is another variation on the helmet lamp form, with a slightly shorter shade (which unfortunately makes the bulb all too visible). Although it's hard to date these things exactly, this lamp probably predates the versions above by a few years, and it would probably be referred to as an "earlier" helmet lamp. Original Brown finish in good condition, but it has a small dent. Value $1,750-2,250. Auction prices: this actual lamp sold for $2,000 +15% at Rago's 1/02. Click here for a big pic (Rago). |
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Strapwork shade lamps with mica panels. Both original Aurora Brown finish in very good condition.
Value: $3,500-$5,000. The lamp on top sold for $5,000 5/00 on eBay; another very similar sold for $3,350 7/00 ebay (a deal!) - click here for a big pic of that one; the lamp on the bottom sold for $4,500 2/02 ebay; $3000 vg cond. ebay 10/04. |
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Strapwork shade lamp with mica panels in the Old Brass finish. Very good condition.
Value: This lamp sold for $2,640 including buyers premium 3/08 at Rago Auctions. |
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Strapwork shade lamp with celluloid panels. Shown here simply to highlight the fact that in addition to mica panels, Roycroft also used celluloid in these lamps (as well as wire mesh but I don't have a picture of one of those yet). Original Aurora Brown finish in very good condition.
Value: Sold Rago's 5/02 for $3,000 plus premium. click here for a big pic (Rago). |
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Exceptional and extremely rare (one-of-a-kind?) large lamp with strapwork shade and urn-shaped base. About 22 inches high by 17.5 inches wide. Brass finish with some wear to base and shade.
Value: This lamp sold Rago's 9/00 for $18,000 + buyers premium. |
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Very rare strapwork shade lamp with original red leaded glass band. Original Old Brass finish in average condition.
This actual lamp sold for $6500 + premium rago 1/05. |
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Later lamp with leaded glass shade and acid etched base. About 18 inches high with Art Deco styling.
Value $3500-4500. This lamp sold 9/99 for $3740 at Cottone's. Click here for a big pic (Cottone). |
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Rare lamp with twin candlestick base and oblong leaded shade with caramel and ivory glass panels. About 24" by 14" by 7" Excellent original finish. Value $4,000-6,000. This lamp sold Rago's 9/00 for $4,500 + buyers premium. |
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Two socket lamp 20" by 13" with parchment shades. Original brown finish.
Value $900-1,200. Auction history: $985 fair condition brass ebay 2/05. Click here for a big pic. |
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Candlestick lamp with an original Old Brass finish.
Value: $500-$700. This lamp sold for $510 4/00 on eBay (a nice buy). |
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Lamp with acid-etched silver washed-base and Steuben glass body.
Click the links below for a veritable rainbow of lamps that I wouldn't want to own. A later design. In all probability, a hammer never touched these things. The copper fittings are entirely spun and I feel they should appeal primarily to Steuben collectors rather than Roycroft fans. As a Roycroft collector, if you are considering one of these, I think you should put your $700-1,000 towards a helmet or mica lamp. Value $700-1,000. Latest auction prices: $710 gold Aurene body 5/00 ebay, $1,000 blue body 11/02 ebay. |
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Rare glass-globed chandelier from the Grove Park Inn. These were commissioned by the GPI in 1912 along with a slew of other lighting fixtures, many of which are still at the Inn. Manufacture of these lighting fixtures was supervised by Roycrofter Victor Toothaker. I think the ones still in the Inn have replaced glass. I'll have to check next time I go to be sure.
Value: I'm not sure of the value of these kinds of things, because they don't come up for sale very often. |
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Rare uplighter from the Grove Park Inn.
About 17 inches in diameter . These can be dated to 1912, the year in which the Roycroft Copper Shop, under the direction of Victor Toothaker, made all the light fixtures for GPI. Unlike the form above, these do show up periodically and have a solid auction history.
Value: $7500-8500. The uplighter top left sold ebay 10/00 for $8,400. The one bottom left sold Rago 5/05 for $7000 plus premium. Bottom photo David Rago Auctions |
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Rare and important hanging copper and leaded glass electrolier and matching lantern from the Roycroft Inn. Produced for the Inn around 1906, these were designed by Roycrofter Dard Hunter. Note the similarities in design features between these fixtures and the objects on the German Silver page.
Value: Impossible to value. Click here to see the electrolier hanging along with two matching lanterns. Click here for a picture of the Roycroft Inn Dining Room showing how these electoliers originally hung. Very special thanks for the use of these pictures. |
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Rare and important wall sconce. From the Roycroft Inn.
Value: Another museum piece. Click here for a big pic.
Collection Roycroft Arts Museum, Boice Lydell |
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Rare and important wall lantern, leaded glass and copper with wall attachment. Possible Dard Hunter design of green and yellow mottled glass panels with green squares and cut out design. About 11 inches high. Some minor condition issues.
Value: Sold at Teadway in 2000 for $11,000 + premium. |
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Rare and important outdoor lantern, leaded glass and copper. Dard Hunter influence although I think the building this came from was built after Hunter left Roycroft. One of a pair.
Value: Sold at Rago 5/05 - one for $9000 plus premium and its partner for $6000 plus premium. Photos courtesy David Rago Auctions |
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Rare fixture from the Roycroft Inn. Three hanging lights and a triangular body suspended from chains. I don't know much about this piece other than I've seen one pictured in a postcard from the Inn, and this one sold at Rago's in 2001. Let me know if you have info and I will add it here. Obviously some condition issues. |
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Another rare fixture from the Roycroft Inn. I know that one of these sold a few years back on ebay. Other than that one and this (part of a pair) that sold at Rago's in 2001, I've not seen another. Looks like the socket and glass has been replaced. |
