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Good Questions: Similar Style Lamp?

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Hi All, I fell in love with this lamp, but unfortunately there was only one. It had a tag that said it was from the 50's, and it has a sticker that says 'Nagoya Japan'. I'd like to know more about who made it, when, and if they are still in production. I'm hoping the more I can find out about it, the better my chances are to finding another to match. If anyone has any info I'd appreciate it! (I'll take best guesses too!) Thank you! Bianca

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Comments (14)

Aaaack! My ex-husband had a pair of lamps like that! Bad karma! (I jest. Hope you find some.)

posted by JoanneM on May 14th 2009 at 3:12pm
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Definitely try eBay. There's a seller who has an inventory of vintage chinoiserie lamps, and they reappear from time to time. Try search terms like "chinoiserie," "hollywood regency," "pierced ceramic"...

I doubt that they're still in production, but I'm sure with a little luck and some time you can find a match.

Nice find though- they remind me of mine:

http://shockthebourgeois.blogspot.com/2009/03/lets-get-our-hands-dirty-shall-we.html

posted by shockthebourgeois on May 14th 2009 at 3:39pm
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My mom has very similar lamps. She got them in Hong Kong or Taiwan almost 40 years ago. She calls them Ginger Jar lamps but when I look on-line I don't see any with the openwork. She has exactly the same shade - and I know it is a replacement shade.

posted by Jen C on May 14th 2009 at 3:45pm
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It's a pierced ginger jar lamp. They were sold by the thousands through the PX catalog in the 60s and 70s.

posted by ereshkigal on May 14th 2009 at 3:46pm
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Should have mentioned: try "Blanc de Chine" as a search term as well.

Good luck!

posted by shockthebourgeois on May 14th 2009 at 3:50pm
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I think I have seen the style at Home Goods in the past -- the ceramic filigree look. If you can find the industry safe description, places like that and Overstock might actually still sell new ones... (Probably not with a snazzy hand painted shade, but you can add that later...)

posted by SherryBinNH on May 14th 2009 at 3:53pm
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If you have 2 you'll take the specialness away from it. Buy the one and mix it with something else. If you must have 2, no need for vintage, just buy new. Check out orientalfurniture.com

posted by stt64 on May 14th 2009 at 4:00pm
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Agree with stt64 - don't get an exact match. Maybe something similar in a slightly difference shape,

like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Shabby-White-Punch-Cut-Lamp-With-Birds-Lattice_W0QQitemZ120418532365QQ
(throw away that shade, obviously!)

or this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/23in-White-Openwork-Temple-Jar-Lamp-NEW_W0QQitemZ120376183298QQ

Overstock has a lot of pretty ginger jar lamps, but nothing with the cut outs like these.

posted by jancola on May 14th 2009 at 4:38pm
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"They were sold by the thousands through the PX catalog in the 60s and 70s."

Something tells me that they're probably still sold at AAFES stores on US military instalations in the Far East - I recall seeing them there when I was stationed outside Tokyo in the early 90's...

posted by bepsf on May 14th 2009 at 5:03pm
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The LampLady expert gives the scoop:
The lamp in the picture is one the most popular Japanese porcelain lamp bases ever made. Though there are literally 100s of variations in size and patterns, the style is always pure white and usually has a night light inside its base.

Antique versions (those from the 1920s,, 30s, and 40s, -pre WWII - were actually hand cut but the incisions on the later versions were pressed by machine. (The one in the photo is the latter version. It MAY date from the 1950s, but is probably more likely to be from the 1970s, 80s,or even 90s. I'm saying this because of the decorative floral design, because of the shape of the jar, the style of the wood base and the condition and shape of the lampshade.)

She recommends not worrying about trying to exactly match the lamp -- any other similar version would pair well with that one and would, actually be more visually interesting.

The Cut Work White lamps remain a highly popular style.

posted by calitobes on May 14th 2009 at 7:23pm
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Hi Bianca, Just to let you know that Nagoya, Japan is home to Noritake ( I lived there for 7 years) and it is most likely a piece by Noritake, since it was and in some regards still is the home of Japanese ceramics over the past 100 years. Not all their pieces were stamped and the 50's was the time when they were still rebuilding after WWII. The other reason for the lack of colour and marking could be that they would have produced blanks for other companies or even artists to paint and decorate.

Noritake, Rosenthal, Villeroy and countless other German and Japanese ceramic companies created blanks and sold them off cheaply as a way of maintaining industrial output and limiting costs related to decoration. It was also (I believe) an obligation under the Marshall Plan to rehabilitate corporations that had used their factories and machining for the war effort. I think you would be able to find similarly styled pieces without too much trouble but it requires a clever search on Ebay rather than just "table lamps", which is too general.

The lamp shade is clearly new (and not the best match in my opinion), but a general word of advice to the people who do away with these things, pierced work in the "Chinoiserie" style usually hold their value.

In fact as a rule of thumb, pierced ceramic work of any make and period holds value quite nicely. Don't dispose of now, what can be in vogue tomorrow.

posted by CliveChristy on May 14th 2009 at 11:04pm
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Bianca - you are in luck, sort of... We have a very similar lamp which we bought new less than a year ago, so this style is clearly still in production. The bad news is that we live in Tokyo (where we bought the lamp) and I have no idea if anyone ships these to the US. We bought it at a shop here called Oriental Bazaar, which sells everything from cheesy souvenirs to furniture and antiques. Shipping costs for big items like tansu chests were pretty steep, so it's probably not worth having one shipped if you are in the States. If you know of any shops (in Japantown, if your city has one?) selling Japanese furniture, they may be able to help you.

Good luck!

posted by jesska01 on May 14th 2009 at 11:18pm
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Bianca,

I have a set of two of those - almost exactly the same. I would be willing to sell them as a set for the right price. Post a way for me to get in touch with you, or email me at esthergolda_at_yahoo_dot_com

Thanks.

posted by rac1234 on May 15th 2009 at 7:39am
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