One way to spruce up one’s home decor is to replace aging lamp shades with glass ones. Unlike the fabric equivalents, glass lamp shades glitter and shine when they transmit the light from the bulb. Such shades were made famous in the early 1900s by Louis Comfort Tiffany. He was an artist and interior decorator genius who combined stained glass techniques with light after the invention of gas shades.
Settling upon a glass lamp shade is merely the first step. There are almost an unlimited number of shapes and sizes to choose from. Adding to the confusion is that the shapes are given various names that are inconsistent across stores and manufacturers. Even when the names are consistent, they can confuse the average buyer. For example, there are shades known by the name of student, and school. These names are not descriptive.
For the purposes of this article, we ignore these problems and turn our attention to just two designs: the cylindrical shade and the cone shade. These are among the most popular kinds.
The cone shade, by virtue of its name, has a conical outline. It can be configured in two orientations with respect to the light fixture. The alignment of the cone can either be in the same direction as the bulb. Examples of these are upward facing cones in torchiere lamps, and downward facing cones in hanging lamps. The cone may also face the opposite direction from the light bulb projection. An example of this is a table lamp with a bulb “pointing” up and a cone opening downward.
Unlike the cone, the cylinder lamp shade has a fixed width. The diameter of the width can be as small as 6 inches and as large as 12. The moods given off by the small and large diameters can be quite different. The wide ones tend to be more old fashioned, suggesting a more traditional era. Design can offset such an effect. The narrow ones tend to be more avant-garde and contemporary. Again, design plays a role.
Lamp shades made of fabric are usually adorned with patterns or art for decoration. Glass shades may also be decorated, usually through the addition of color glass or metallic top and bottom rims. The coloring of glass is an artistic process with a long history.
Sometimes the distinctive between cone and cylinder gets rather blurry. If the cylinder is of the narrow kind, or if the cone opens at a very slight angle, the two look similar. However, one benefit of the cone is that it can provide improved reflective and diffusive qualities to the light if it flares widely.
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