Hiring Period Light Shades/Fittings

[ClaireL]

(Apologies if posted in the wrong subject area)

 

We are trying to source 8x light shades/fittings for a production set in 1897. They are schoolroom type overhead/ceiling lights, the top a little like a coolie shade, but with a frosted glass bowl underneath, containing the bulb. The designer has made his own mock-up for the modelbox, but we can't find an equivalent to hire or buy. Have tried all the prop/furniture hire places eg A&M, Newman, Keeleys, and companies that sell similar-looking items are priced at about GBP200 each new, which is way beyond our budget.

 

Does anyone know any companies which specialise in hiring period light fittings of this type ? I've tried googling, but the only results I get are standard LX hire companies,

 

Many thanks

[vinntec]

(Apologies if posted in the wrong subject area)

 

We are trying to source 8x light shades/fittings for a production set in 1897. They are schoolroom type overhead/ceiling lights, the top a little like a coolie shade, but with a frosted glass bowl underneath, containing the bulb. The designer has made his own mock-up for the modelbox, but we can't find an equivalent to hire or buy. Have tried all the prop/furniture hire places eg A&M, Newman, Keeleys, and companies that sell similar-looking items are priced at about GBP200 each new, which is way beyond our budget.

 

Does anyone know any companies which specialise in hiring period light fittings of this type ? I've tried googling, but the only results I get are standard LX hire companies,

 

Many thanks

What I did for Home and Beauty earlier this year is use some cheap white coolie shades (from Sainsburys I think) with period lamps in them. The picture here doesn't show them well - we were planning to paint them green but in the end didn't bother. The lamps came from these people, we used Classic Edison lamps dimmed to show the filaments.

[mr_towers]

This is the sort of thing where giving other local theatres a buzz is a good way forward. I'm fairly certain hat we've got some of the shades in our bloated practice store (as do a couple of other places round here) - there'll certainly be other producing houses near you who'll also have them. Looking online is almost certain to be fruitless I'm afraid ;)

[Junior8]

Looking at some pix I took at the Amberley Museum domestic electric exhibition many early styles of frosted glass lampshades are still made today for the retro market. If all else fails any cheap bell/cup shaped frosted glass pendant repro shade would match a lot of early designs if this is anything to go by.