A Victorian night light invented mostly to sell more candles. Clever fellow.
A fairy lamp is a small glass candle lamp with a domed shade, made to give a soft, steady glow. They started as Victorian night lights, came back in a big way in the 1950s, and collectors are hunting for them again today. Here's what they are, where they came from and what to look for when you find one.
What a fairy lamp is
At its simplest, a fairy lamp has two parts: a base that holds a small candle and a glass dome that sits over it. The dome has an opening at the top so heat can escape and the flame gets air. The glass softens the light and shields the flame from drafts, and colored, frosted or patterned glass makes the whole lamp glow.
Where they came from
The name comes from Samuel Clarke, a London candle maker. In 1885 he patented a glass cup covered with a dome and sold it as a safer night light, largely as a way to sell more of his candles. Victorian families used fairy lamps in nurseries, sickrooms and hallways, where a covered flame was much safer than an open one.
Clarke's trademark was a fairy holding a wand, and his lamps came in three sizes called Fairy, Pyramid and Wee. He didn't make the glass himself. He licensed glass and pottery makers to produce the shades and bases, including Thomas Webb & Sons, whose soft pink and yellow Queen's Burmese shades are some of the most prized fairy lamps today. The lamps became so popular that people began calling any small domed candle lamp a fairy lamp.
Clarke's company was sold in 1910. As electric light reached more homes, fairy lamps faded from everyday use by the 1920s.
The mid-century comeback
Fenton Art Glass brought the fairy lamp back in the early 1950s and called them fairy lights. Fenton made them for decades in hobnail milk glass, colored and opalescent glass, carnival glass, Burmese and hand-painted satin glass, and they are the fairy lamps you're most likely to find today. Other American glass companies made their own versions, including Viking, Westmoreland, L.E. Smith, Indiana Glass and Mosser. Viking's owl-shaped lamps are a favorite with mid-century collectors.
Two-piece and three-piece lamps
Sellers describe fairy lamps by the number of pieces. A two-piece lamp is a base and a dome. A three-piece lamp adds a third part, usually a separate clear glass candle cup that sits inside the base, or a pedestal or saucer under the lamp. When you buy one, count the pieces and make sure they belong together. A dome sitting on a base from a different lamp is called a marriage, and it's worth less than an original set.
How to tell an antique from a later lamp
- Look for Clarke's mark. Victorian lamps often have a clear pressed-glass candle cup with Clarke's name and the fairy trademark molded into it.
- Look for the Fenton logo. Starting in the early 1970s, Fenton molded its name inside an oval into the glass. A small 8 under the name means the 1980s, a 9 means the 1990s and a 0 means the 2000s. Earlier Fenton pieces carried paper labels that usually washed off, so an unmarked lamp can still be Fenton.
- Consider the glass. The most collected Victorian shades are blown art glass, such as satin, Burmese and striped Nailsea-style glass. Most mid-century lamps are pressed glass with molded patterns like hobnail.
- Remember that many good lamps were never marked. Pattern, color and shape are how collectors identify those.
What to check before you buy
- Run a fingertip around the rims where the dome meets the base. That's where chips hide.
- Hold each piece up to the light and look for cracks, especially around the top opening where the heat collects.
- Make sure the dome sits level and steady on the base.
- Check hand-painted decoration for wear.
- Don't worry about soot or old wax. Both clean off.
Using one safely
Fairy lamps were made to be used. A tealight works well, and a battery-operated LED tealight gives the same glow with no heat at all, which makes it the safest choice for antique or hand-painted lamps. If you burn a real candle, set the lamp on a heat-safe surface, remember that the dome gets hot, and never leave it burning unattended.
Caring for a fairy lamp
Wash by hand in warm, soapy water and dry with a soft cloth. Skip the dishwasher, which can dull the glass and strip painted decoration. To remove wax, let it harden and lift it away with a fingernail or a wooden pick, then wash off what's left. Avoid sudden temperature changes, like hot water on cold glass, because old glass can crack.
Fairy lamps in the shop
When we find fairy lamps, they go into our collectable glass collection. You can also browse our vintage home decor for more one-of-a-kind pieces. Every piece is the only one we have.
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Collectable glass →Vintage home decor →New arrivals →
Keep reading: What Is Milk Glass? · What Is Carnival Glass? · Pressed Glass vs. Cut Crystal
Did anyone in your family keep a little glass lamp glowing on a windowsill or nightstand? Tell us what it looked like.