Posted 10 years ago
bunionboy
(2 items)
I have had this lamp for years and have never been able to find out anything about it. It was made by The Crest Company Chicago. It is a cobalt blue porcelain (I think) with some kind of gold inlay flower designs. Any ideas?
I can't tell you anything about the blue porcelain vase or jar that makes up the body of your lamp. However, I also have a lamp with a two-socket cluster with "The Crest Company Chicago" markings, but mine is taller, and features a French art glass body and a decorative heavy brass base. My lamp has separate chain pull switches on the sockets instead of the key-turn switch of your lamp. Unfortunately, my lamp is missing the screw-in cap to the socket cluster, riser stem and original shade and finial. I'd like to find vintage parts from the original maker to complete it.
The Crest Company appears to have specialized in custom-made lamps. I've found a few auction and other sold item listings on line, showing a variety of glass and porcelain and brass lamps by them. I've seen copies of advertisements from as early as 1919 and trade magazine listings (Good Furniture Magazine, Crockery and Glass Journal), including notices showing them on the list of exhibitors at an annual Furniture Exhibition in Grand Rapids and Chicago from 1920 through 1922. They placed a full page ad in the June 1920 edition of Good Furniture Magazine announcing their displays of custom made Crest Lamps “of Superlative Design and Craftsmanship.” The Crest Company appears in the 1920 and 1922 editions of the Chicago Central Business and Office Building Directory under the headings for “Lamps, Manufacturers and Jobbers of Lamp Shade Frames and Supplies” and “Lamps and Lamp Shades” with an address of 501 W 35th. I can't tell how long they stayed in business.