At 19^th Century Lighting Company

we offer two grades of lamp and lighting device restoration for customers to choose from: Our Standard Grade Restoration & our museum quality Extra-Grade Restoration.

Standard Grade Restoration:

Each lamp or lighting device that under goes our Standard Grade Restoration is returned to its original appearance through a combination of original & new components. These restorations may include metal finishing, polishing, glass cleaning & re-etching, shade matching and modern electrification. Some of the old lamp components used to complete our standard restorations, although old, may not he the original lamp's components.

Extra-Grade Restoration:

Each lamp which under goes our Extra-Grade Lamp Restoration, a favorite with advanced collectors and museum's, is restored its original appearance using only the old, original, and authentic parts & components that the restored lamp was originally manufactured with. These are meticulous, time-consuming, labor intensive, & costly restorations. The end result of which is to provide each customer with a lamp that i* restored to its original appearance & specifications using only the authentic original manufacturers parts & components.

Please note:

Standard & Extra-Grade lamp restorations will include brass & metal lamp parts that have been in constant daily household use for over century or more they will show normal signs of their age, use & wear. These parts are not new. They are not in perfect condition nor are they Warranted to be. Some common signs of aging may include, dings, dents, stress cracks, wear, and warping & brass disease.

All footed-lamps restorations

are completed without guarantee that they will either hold liquids or that they will support combustion. Fonts are for the lamp components accuracy, completeness and shade support only and should never be filled with combustible liquids or ignited.

All glass in our restored lamps is considered to he in excellent-flawless original condition, as defined below, unless otherwise stated, please note that all original lamp glass was made over a century ago, with crude machinery, unfiltered air, much untrained labor & inconsistent glass mixtures in ancient furnaces and will bear the trace of same. Imperfections may include scuffs, spots & bubbles in glass, uneven shapes, distorted sizes, and imperfect cuts and mold-separations, clear spots, etc..

Even with these original imperfections, lamp glass is considered “flawless" unless it is cracked, chipped or broken.

We have had many requests asking us whether we do lamp appraisals and I am happy to tell you, that, "yes" we do lamp appraisals. We do lamp appraisals /or insurance coverage, auction houses, private collectors and retail antique shops.

So if you are interested in finding out more about a lamp that you just purchased or inherited from an estate please contact me either via the email address below or send me a letter to my address below via USPS.

What is required

if you wish an appraisal on your lamp, or collection of lamps, is the following three (3) items:

1)

One clear photo that fills the photo area With the lamp that you wish lo have appraised. No group photos please. Make sure that the lamp is in focus and that the photo bears both the overall essence of the lamp as well as the details which make up the uniqueness of your lamp, photos may be emailed to lampman@19thcenturylighting.com or postal mailed to 19^th Century Lighting Co./Appraisals; 601 North Broadway Street, Union City, Michigan 49094.

2)

Include the overall dimensions of your lamp; the height, width, and the diameter (if appropriate). Also, include any markings that appear on your lamp.

3)

Include & postal money order for $50.00 for the 1st lamp that you wish appraised and $25.00/or each additional lamp appraisal you desire. (For example, if you wish to have one lamp appraised, The charge is $50.00; two lamps are $75.00, three lamps are $100.00. and four lamps are $125.00, and so forth)

You will receive, for each lamp photo & payment that you send me, a verified lamp appraisal for that lamp detailing the age. lamp description, appraised value, and a copy of the photo that you sent.

Please allow 14-21 business days for your appraisal to be completed and returned to you.

I think its important, when you are doing business with folks, that you get to know a little about the business as well as the proprietor of that business - no where is this more important than in the Antique Lighting & Glass Business. To that end, I have written a small composite of my history in the Antique Lighting & Glass Business to date. Before I got into “the business", I actually began collecting, trading, buying and selling antiques back in the late 1950's when I was 13 years old.

I used to help folks in my community clean out their attics, basements & barns in exchange for many of the antique items that they were discarding. I had a wonderful collection of Wind-up phonographs that I had completely restored to mint working condition by the time I was 14 years old. All the way through high school & college I bought & sold antiques as well as held down several part- times jobs 1o pay for my education.

Even when I graduated from college and began a teaching career that led me gaining advanced degrees and eventually to becoming a professor of special education at The University of Wyoming in Laramie, I always collected, bought and sold antiques as well as stripped and refinished Victorian furniture - it seemed my interest in antiques transcended all else.

I established The 19^th Century Lighting Company in 1972 when I lived in Marshall, Michigan, with a real love & fascination for Victorian Lighting. When I first started up this business, I used lo do the antique show circuit on weekends where I set-up and displayed my "wares" at some of the largest and finest shows in the Midwest. After several years, however, I became very weary of the constant traveling, packing, hauling, setting up, tearing down, re-packing, re-hauling and storage of my wares. I decided it was time to do this from a permanent location and since 1978, we have been located within the beautiful Victorian Villa Inn here in Union City, Michigan. In 2008 we moved just up the street to a location dedicated for our lighting shoppe.

I got into the Antique Lighting part of the business because of the inspiration of two great ladies... one a collector... and the other a dealer in antique lighting. Mrs. Wave Gamble lived in Jonesville, Michigan in what was known as the Grosvenor Mansion - Grosvenor was the newly elected Lieutenant Governor of Michigan at the time that the mansion was built in the 1870's. She was an avid collector of everything Victorian. She and her son William, amassed an incredible collection of Victoriana... especially Victorian Lighting. From the first time I was invited into her home I was hooked on 19^th Century Lighting.

The other lady who was an inspiration to me. Mrs. Elnora Murray ran a Victorian Lamp Shoppe in the Irish Hills area of Michigan along with her 2nd husband George. Not only was she an inspiration... but upon her death, she had posthumously granted me "right of first refusal" of her lamp shop stock and her own personal collection. I have been in the Victorian Lighting Business ever since....and I am still learning....mostly from other collectors and dealers. It has been my good fortune to know so many fine enthusiasts of Victorian Lighting.

I look forward lo doing business with each of you in the future and, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to email me - I will respond.