Valuable Vintage Living Room Lamps to Illuminate Your Life

Antique and vintage living room lamps can add beauty to any home, but they aren't always affordable.

Illuminate Your Life with These Valuable Vintage Lamps

Whether you're a fan of mid-century modern lamps or Tiffany lamps, there's a vintage lamp out there just waiting for you, but they don't always come cheap.

Many vintage light fixtures can run well into the five figures, but if you're lucky, you may find your dream lamp at an estate or flea market. Here are some popular living room lamps and the prices they sold for in recent eBay sales.

10. Gaetano Sciolari Brass Chandelier

Value: $1,170

Bottom line: Made in Italy by designer Gaetano Sciolari, this chandelier has a decidedly 1970s design. It's made from high-quality brass and has 16 arms with 16 sockets that need small Edison screw bulbs (E14) to operate.

Sciolari was in high demand as a lighting designer from the 1960s to the 1980s and imported his designs to the U.S. through Lightolier and Progress Lighting. His designs were commonly featured in TV and movies of the time due to their futuristic appearance.

9. Majestic 'S' Shaped Lamp

Value: $1,250

Bottom line: It almost looks like a music note! This atomic age "S" shaped lamp was made by Majestic Lamp Manufacturing Corporation, which was a popular home furnishings company in the 1950s. The company produced table and floor lamps, ceiling lights, room dividers and tables.

This lamp is constructed with black-lacquered wood, brass and fiberglass shades.

8. Pizza Hut Lamp

Value: $2,325

Bottom line: If you ever wanted to own a piece of your childhood, this lamp will flood you with nostalgia. Yes, it's an official vintage Pizza Hut light fixture, used in the restaurant chain before its more sterile remodel.

While somewhat pricey, these Tiffany-style lamps do appear for sale now and again, so if you really want one, they are available.

7. Polynesian Hula Girl Lamp

Value: $2,995

Bottom line: For lovers of all things tiki, the hula lamp is a collector's dream. Tiki culture became popular in the 1940s after servicemen came back from WWII with tales and trinkets from their time in the South Pacific.

Tiki is popular once again, and this lamp, with hips that actually swivel, sold for top dollar in October 2022.

5. Rougier Sculptural Tube Lamp (Tie)

Value: $3,500

Bottom line: Maison Rougier designer Roger Rougier created odd, alien-looking lamps and furniture from the 1960s through the 1980s.

This space-age oval lamp was made from black and white Plexiglas in the early 1980s. All Maison Rougier light fixtures are highly sought after by collectors.

5. Pittsburgh Reverse-Painted Lamp (Tie)

Value: $3,500

Bottom line: This stunning lamp from Pittsburgh Lamp, Brass and Glass Company dates to the early 1920s. It features the reverse shade of a campsite that glows orange from its "bonfire" when turned on.

Reverse-painted (also known as "chipped ice") lamps are common. However, due to their stunning detail and age, they are always expensive.

3. Handel Lamp With Reverse-Painted Shade (Tie)

Value: $5,500

Bottom line: The Handel Company opened its first showroom in New York City in 1890 and produced its first lamps at the turn of the century.

This pretty, hand-painted, reverse-shade lamp with a beach scene dates back to the late teens or early 1920s and sold for top dollar in November 2022.

3. Ingo Mauer Bamboo Fan Floor Lamp (Tie)

Value: $5,500

Bottom line: This Uchiwa floor lamp was designed by German designer Ingo Mauer in 1977. He was known as the "Poet of Light," and he created and planned light installations for public and private spaces around the world.

This large fan light fixture is made from bamboo, wrapped wicker and Japanese rice paper.

2. Gilbert Rohde Marble Statue Lamp

Value: $12,800

Bottom line: This marble floor lamp was created by none other than Herman Miller designer Gilbert Rohde, who helped define American modernism for the company between the 1920s and World War II.

The ornate marble lamp stands about 7-feet tall and is said to pre-date the 1970s.

1. Tiffany Studios Geometric Leaded Lamp

Value: $12,999

Bottom line: Tiffany Studios lamps rarely come with a geometric design. This Art Deco leaded table lamp is, therefore, a holy-grail item for any collector.

It is signed by Tiffany Studios and has a stamped No. 558 on its base. Tiffany lamps are never mass-produced or machine-made and are built from the highest quality materials, hence their high price tag.