So do you have a burning question about antique oil lamps? Can they be a good investment? Could they turn your house into an Aladdin’s cave? Might they even be fun to collect?
For over 20 years I have been restoring antique oil lamps back to as close to showroom condition as possible and I don’t mind saying there is an incredible sense of satisfaction when you see the finished item. A week ago it was in bad shape and could fit in a dumpster; today a clean, shiny and perfect oil lamp is worth a lot of money. I have found that the thrill of discovery is absolutely out of this world.
Many of the lamps that I have supplied to customers around the world 10 years ago will now be worth double or, in some cases, substantially more than double the figure paid. How many could say this about a capital investment these days? So could vintage oil lamps be a good investment as well as being objects of innovative beauty? The answer has to be categorically, yes. But you have to know what to look for.
The search can be exciting, you have to look for specific types of antique oil lamps. Manufacturer names on wick winders are important. Hinks, Messenger’s, Young’s, Palmer’s, Veritas, Evered, P & A, to name just a few whose quality lamps can be valuable. The material of manufacture is important. Color is important. Glass and ceramic lamps are the most sought after to invest. Brass is fine, but generally unless the maker is someone like ‘Benson’ it won’t reach the same heights.
I prefer lamps with glass oil containers. As long as the glass is in good condition it will hold fuel without leaking and a well made stained glass fountain looks fantastic with a nice Victorian shade of glass to the same colour.
As a UK resident, I tend to prefer lamps made in the UK, where many of the patents originate from. There are literally hundreds of different types of oil lamps, but I personally prefer the type that uses a burner with two flat wicks next to each other, known as a duplex. They are easier to work with and get parts for and there are a wide variety of different brands and qualities.
Can you buy a good old oil lamp for a reasonable price? If you’re prepared to clean 100 years or more of tarnish inside and out, the answer is yes. If you don’t want to do any work, you may have to pay a little more, but there are many on the market that will keep their prices down and increase in value.
Stained glass oil lamps are the most sought after, of which the lingonberry is extremely popular. Blue glass oil fountain lamps with matching blue glass shades tend to be highly prized and the good ones fetch extremely high prices. Imagine my excitement when I discovered a tarnished and worn blue glass at a local auction a few months ago… no one knew what it was and my profit a few weeks later was 1500%!
Where to look? Local general auctions are great and it’s not unusual to buy for under £90 GBP and sell after a good clean for 4-5 times that cost. Antique stores are also good places to browse, and most dealers are prepared to haggle. Trunk sales can also sometimes produce the most unexpected results.
No matter where you decide to shop, be sure to inspect the lamps very closely. If the glass is damaged, do not buy it, as it will not increase its value. Look for chips, hairline cracks, or anything broken. The main areas where there could be creeping hairlines would be under the top of brass fixtures and under a glass pan. Run your fingers along the top and bottom of a glass screen to find chips or cracks. The top of the shade should be perfect but the base where it fits into a brass stand may have some wear bites on the bottom. At antique stores and fairs, beware of duplex lamps with wicks so high they touch at the top. That usually means they are covering a failure or break in the brass burner.
Want to see how amazing cleaned and restored oil lamps can look? Follow the link http://tiny.cc/lovelyoillamps to go to a web page where you can see some of the lamps I have restored and passed on to happy collectors over the years. Great to look at and also growing value of lighting history!