Few things are more at home in a bungalow than American art pottery. Its bright colors & luster bring cheer & light to a dark interior & add details that complement the simple lines of the more rustic Arts & Crafts furniture & Craftsman architectural details.
Anyone can collect art pottery. Mine was representative of the finest from the period, chipped & mended into affordability. There are plenty of imperfect pieces on the market & artfully arranged, you can emulate the most prestigious collection of any museum. (I won’t tell.)
Pottery can serve as an inspiration piece when you are starting from ground zero in decorating your home. Using the colors, the images, the shape, you can use them as a basis for choosing your furniture & your textiles.
LEARN HOW POTTERY CAN BE BEAUTIFUL IN YOUR BUNGALOW
American Art Pottery Secrets – Paul J. Katrich – 1of6.mp4 (9:08)
Paul katrich
Paul, himself a master potter, is passionate about historic pottery. This is the first of 6 videos in which he explains the origin & inspiration of Arts & Crafts pottery. He tells us about the aesthetic & technological developments that culminated in American A&C, then shows & tells us about the icons of the period.
I am not going to list every video in the full series. The parts are best viewed in order & when the first video is over, the second & those after will magically appear. You will experience some lovely examples of the American Movement!
THE IMPORTANCE OF WOMEN IN AMERICAN ART POTTERY
Women artists have been overlooked for centuries. By the end of the 19th Century, we began coming into our own. In addition to demanding to work, we were also clamoring for a place in the world. Recognition would come much later, but what we wanted was the opportunity to use our wits & talents to contribute to the human cause. For many women, gaining artistic skills meant that they had greater earning power & could feed their families.These videos tell of how the crafts, especially pottery allowed us to do this.
Women, Art, and Social Change: The Newcomb Pottery Enterprise (1:32)
Gardiner Museum
An overview of the Smithsonian exhibition of ceramics. metalwork, textiles & images of the women at work.
Roger Ogden on Newcomb Pottery (2:31)
Craft in America
Roger Ogden, collector explains the femininity of New Orleans, the home of H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College (Tulane University’s former women’s college.)
Earth into Art — The Flowering of American Art Pottery (2:00)
Morse Museum
Lead by woman, America’s first success on the World’s art stage.
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This article will cover residential illumination, with emphasis on bungalow lighting design basics. We’re going to look at types of lighting, as they could be applied to your unique home.
Many years ago, I did a survey of homeowners, seeking to understand what they considered to be their most important goals when decorating their homes. Soon after, a similar survey was conducted by the National Wood Flooring Association. Combining the results of these two surveys was wonderfully illuminating. (Pun intended.)
My survey results showed that people placed great value on beauty- highly prized as contributing to the quality of life, in the Arts & Crafts philosophy.
The second valued attribute was warmth, a visual manifestation of the human connection. We style our homes to be welcoming, to be safe havens of comfort & regeneration for our families & our friends. We want our homes to express us, to tell our individual stories. To help us connect.
The NWFA’s questioning uncovered the desire for design that is beautiful &, “evokes an emotional response.” Once again, the human factor, the wish to communicate, the desire to be heard & understood by others.
The warmth & beauty are built-in to the basic design our bungalows. No one (at least no one reading this article!) can deny their own, emotional response to the beautiful features of a historic bungalow.
So, how can we enhance the warmth, the emotion, the beauty in our homes? How do we make our living spaces express our individual voices more clearly & eloquently? How can our homes contribute more profoundly, more richly, to the lives of our beloved family members & our dear friends, in the simple design choices that we make?
Well, here’s how you can put a little more light in their lives!
AMBIENT LIGHTING IN YOUR BUNGALOW
The first to consider is general, or ambient (defined as existing or present on all sides: encompassing) lighting. This is the type that provides a general, uniform illumination for the entire area, allowing you to be oriented to the space & to move about safely. During the day, this is usually provided by windows.
Our bungalows tend to have deep porches & overhangs. We also often have large, mature trees which block the sun, so the illumination provided by our windows is not always bright. When many of our homes were built, we were not accustomed to the high wattage of today’s lighting & such illumination was sufficient. In fact, our houses were planned to be at their most attractive under the softer, more subtle glow of the lighting of the times. Window coverings typical to the period allowed this natural light in, providing layers of blockage for privacy & darkness.
Our fireplaces contribute to the ambient light. At one time, they would have provided a main source of visibility & warmth. The family would have crowded ’round after the sun set for warmth, comradery & entertainment, as well as illumination. (I cannot but compare a similar scene today- the family sitting around the big screen TV, in the cold glow of its blue light, each person mute & staring, some looking at their phones.)
The study of my Eagle Rock home, the Hare House had a small fireplace in addition to the main fireplace pictured above. The first resident, Alfred was both a minister, leading a congregation & an attorney with a thriving law practice in downtown Los Angeles. Though he had sisters who lived nearby, & both Alfred & Grace were very active in community affairs, they were childless & I imagine that, at times, she may have gotten lonely. I can easily picture Reverend Hare working at his desk there in the evening, perhaps with the added help of a gas lantern, to keep his dear Grace, company. Perhaps she knitted for one of her charities or aid groups?
TASK LIGHTING
Reading by the fire was a common pastime which we would find rather uncomfortable now. After our homes were wired for electricity, we eagerly employed lamps to read & write, to cook & wash dishes, to shave, to accomplish the many tasks inherent in daily living. I’m in hearty agreement! Should I need to read a set of tiny directions, or figure out what my cat has in his mouth, I want light & plenty of it.
Task lighting has different functions in various rooms. Probably most people don’t read in the living room these days, & for many, reading means looking at a lit screen, but some folks actually read print books & it’s handy to have light directed at it. Too bad that there’s no sheet music in this piano image because it’s such a perfect example of task lighting.
In the kitchen, task lighting is crucial for safety, hygiene & perfect caramelization. And for identifying which children are yours.
Let me be perfectly clear here about the use of can or recessed lights. Nope, no way, no how! IN BUNGALOW DETAILS: INTERIOR, Jane says,” DO NOT ALLOW RECESSED CAN LIGHTING INTO YOUR BUNGALOW!”
She obliviously felt that you needed to defend yourself from this type of lighting at all costs. Jane goes on to say, “There is nothing, NOTHING that screams ‘late twentieth century’ more than a recessed can light- I don’t care how many lighting designers tell you they are ‘unobtrusive…’
“There was no track lighting either, nor were there fancy Italian-design halogen lights suspended on wires.”
This is how we define the room. Against a dark background of wood, accent lighting creates atmosphere, forming multiple layers of depth. It draws the eye from one point of illumination to the next, create sculptural vignettes, enhancing the aesthetic & intimacy of the room.
Here we see a beautifully illuminated room. The lighting is layered- there is ambient lighting coming from the windows, complete with a cozy kitty, & table lamps which serve as task & accent lighting. You could easily read in the cushiony chairs beside them & they highlight the textile to the front, & the teddy on the window seat. Notice the signature acorn pulls of RAGSDALE, Mission Style Oak and Mica Lamps and Lighting, a modern master about whom you can read in Part 7.
The beauty of layering that it imparts a warm glow throughout the room. There are no abrupt changes that force your eye to readjust to different areas, yet, there is enough variety to keep it moving & interested.
This article is just the beginning! To become a master of bungalow lighting, keep reading!
The desire for lighting is in our DNA. Our circadian rhythms, our bodies’ clocks, determine the patterns of our bodies, our minds & behavior over a 24 hour cycle & respond to light & dark. Light exposure generates signals from our brains, releasing hormones that keep us awake & perky during the day. Darkness activates sleep hormones.
Early man slept when it was dark & trotted about hunting & gathering when it was light. But, as civilization developed, his activities expanded & he wanted to be active after the sun went down. He wanted to be able to see inside his cave.
Almost 130,000 years ago he learned to control fire, which was also handy for warmth & for cooking. It took another 100,000 years for him to make the first lamps, which employed animal fat as fuel. It wasn’t until 4500 B.C. that he invented the oil lamp which uses liquid oil, contained in a vessel, with a textile wick that is dropped in it. The top of the wick is ignited, producing a flame as the oil is drawn up the floating wick.
Following that leap in technology, lamp evolution pretty much stagnated for thousands of years. The American colonists used lamps that weren’t that much different from those used in biblical times- smokey, faint lighting, giving off little more light than candles.
The kerosene lamp was developed in 1850 & was used until electricity took its place. This type of lamp is still sometimes used in emergencies when electricity fails & light is needed.
Of course when the Victorians came along, a lamp became a flower garden, though it was still the basic mechanism of wick & oil. By this time we had learned to mold glass & metal so every material was employed in a manner that obscured its basic nature & turned it into something else, to be displayed in a house of like objects, all competing for the title of the most ornate.
I am not going to say that I do not consider this lamp to be lovely. I’m always happy to see a rose, growing in a garden, or painted on a lamp, but, you have to agree that the materials, function & construction of this lamp are not immediately apparent, being buried under excessive ornamentation!
In 1879 Thomas Edison & Joseph Swan patented the carbon-thread incandescent (An incandescent light bulb, incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe is an electric light with a wire filament that is heated until it glows.) lamp & over the next couple decades electricity technology evolved rapidly & took the lead in powering America.
THE LIGHTING OF THE ARTS & CRAFTS MOVEMENT
I think that my favorite William Morris quote is, “We shall not be happy unless we live like good animals, unless we enjoy the exercise of the ordinary functions of life: eating, sleeping, loving, walking, running, swimming, riding, sailing.”
Somehow he strips away all gee-gaws from life which is the basis of the Arts & Crafts Movement. I am amused by fact that the prehistoric, earthen lamp above, so resembles the lamps of the Movement. Personally, I find its humble simplicity beautiful.
I think the best way to talk about the lighting is to talk about the craftspeople of the Movement’s early years. But first, let’s talk about harmony.
Harmony is the visually satisfying effect of combining similar or related elements. In the decorative arts, this means that the lighting that you see in the Gamble House or other ultimate bungalow, in a museum might not be appropriate in your modest home.
Often, the key visual, size is the first aspect to consider. The Gamble House is a whopping 8,100 square feet. The rooms are proportionately sized & the lighting’s dimensions fit the room. While a modest house may have beautiful built-ins of unpainted woodwork, the Gamble House boasts cuts of wood, hand-picked by Charles Greene out of Burma teak, Douglas fir beams, white oak & Port Orford cedar, cut in elaborate designs. The beautiful stained glass of the lightening is duplicated throughout the house & most impressively, in the massive entry.
This is not meant in any way to denigrate your home. It is merely to state that the look & feel of your house are different from these bunga-mansions (as Jane Powell termed her magnificent house in Oakland) as their decorative elements look no more appropriate in a more simple home than would the crown jewels with your jeans. (And yes, I know that there are those out there who would wear such a combination & 1 in 1,000 of them would pull it off.) There are still some amazing options out there that would enhance your home rather than overwhelming it.
This little gem from Doc’s Architectural Salvation in Springfield, Tennessee. Complete with beautifully patterned slag glass, it is undisputedly Arts & Crafts & would harmonize with any architecture or decor in a bungalow.
In the same way, the light in your kitchen is not from a Frank Lloyd Wright designed house. A simple schoolhouse light is more appropriate & will set off the other design elements of your kitchen rather than overtaking them.
I’m a big believer in visual flow. Keeping within the period & style of your house will ensure that there won’t be so many focal points that your overall look will be difficult to determine. Ideally each item in the room will complement or complete the others & the focal points will be supported by all the other elements.
THIS IS JUST THE FIRST PART OF AN IN-DEPTH SERIES ON LIGHTING
We move into a new house, even an old house that’s new to us, & the electrical is just there, be it knob & tube, or an updated system. It wasn’t always this way! Part 1 explains how we got from stumbling around in a dark cave, to our modern day use of electricity which is pretty casual.
Although much of the information is this article is pretty much taken for granted, I appreciated the advice given about the use of light bulbs & shades.
LIGHTING THE HOME BY ELECTRICITY
THE CRAFTSMAN
an Illustrated Monthly Magazine in the Interest of Better Art, Better Work, and a Better and More Reasonable Way of Living.
April, 1913
Electric dome light for dining room
Since evening is often the time when each member of the family is most at liberty to enjoy the home, it appears as a matter of reason that it should, wherever possible, be well and artistically lighted. In fact light stands for cheerfulness as well as brilliancy, for decoration as well as utility, for cosiness as well as sharp disclosures. Whatever else may be the qualities of the home furnishings, yet are they dependent upon whether a cursory or a careful study has been given to their illumination.
The true craftsman planning his residence will have taken the first great step when he has chosen a sensible location for the lighting outlets. Whether these outlets be for a ceiling light, a table lamp, or a wall bracket, they settle once and for all the place of the light source. Consequently they ought not to be passed over lightly, but should be discussed fully with the architect’s electrical expert or with a competent illuminating engineer. The location determines where the most light will ordinarily be and where the shadows will fall; it influences the choice of the fixture, the placing of furniture, and other perfectly tangible items that a glance into the near future will generally disclose.
THE ENTRY
On the lower floor the lighting of porch and doorway are of utmost importance. Outlets by each side of the doorway for wall lanterns are necessary to secure ornamentation, while beneath one such outlet may be provided a connection for an illuminated house number. If the porch be of considerable length it is well to provide two ceiling lights, symmetrically spaced, for general service. Often a low wall or floor receptacle is appreciated when a table lamp is used for outdoor reading in summertime.
THE LOWER FLOOR
Simple type of electric bracket lantern
In the reception hall the lighting outlet—and one is sufficient—must appear symmetrical with regard to a front window, this being often the place where a light burns when all others are turned out. In case there are no other lights used, such as a newel lamp, an effort should be made to so place this ceiling outlet that ample illumination is furnished for the stairs ; furthermore, the light should be so directed that the shadow of one stair tread is not thrown on the one below.
Novel design for electric lantern
On the beamed ceiling in the living room it is logical to have the outlets appear at the two places which are symmetrical with the nook, the window-seat, the dining-room doorway, and at centers of equal rectangles of ceiling surface, that general uniform lighting may be secured. Outlets for brackets on each side of the window-seat take care of decorative lights. Provision for electrical attachments in the center of the floor and low in the wainscoting at one side will always be serviceable for the family reading table and writing-desk lamps.
The nook and the fireplace should have two well placed bracket outlets that provide for reading, and two places for portable lamp attachments on a level with the mantel-shelf. A piano lamp may be connected at the nearest bracket or attached to a baseboard receptacle.
THE DINING ROOM
Electric bracket lantern
The dining room should have the central ceiling outlet for the table dome, the two brackets each side of the buffet, and the wainscoting receptacle. The latter, as a hint for economy in wiring cost, is sometimes located in the partition wall opposite a similar outlet in the living room. A floor outlet beneath the central dining table will be convenient for electric table candies.
PANTRIES, CLOSETS & KITCHEN
Square electric lantern
Pantries and closets are well-lighted from a central ceiling lamp, the kitchen likewise, due care being taken to have considerable light fall over the left shoulder of the person standing before the stove.
A bracket light over the left end of the sink board will facilitate operations there.
Usually a single ceiling light on the rear porch high enough to light the treads of the porch steps will suffice.
THE SECOND FLOOR
Round electric lantern
The placing of the lighting outlets on the second floor does not involve as much thought, since the desire is usually for some simple type of central ceiling fixture to light the bedrooms uniformly, assisted by local lamps, one on each side of a dresser or mirror.
By all means the best bath room equipment must include an outlet for brackets each side of a shaving mirror, since one on the left is insufficient.
Much of the ultimate success of home lighting depends on the common sense control or switching devices that are used. Wall switches are a necessity for all ceiling lights. The so-called “three-point” or “fourpoint” switches are indispensable in enabling the lower hall lights to be turned on or off from either upper or lower halls; and the upper hall light to be similarly controlled from above or below.
Small button switches can be placed in the base or canopies of wall brackets, while door switches that operate automatically with the opening and closing of closet doors are great savers of current and will pay for themselves many times over. Another economical device often found in well appointed houses consists of tell-tale or “pilot” lamps—small colored lights placed in easy view in some much occupied room, and which are arranged to burn whenever lights in basement or attic are burning. Lights in such places often burn forgotten for days at a time before discovery, and to such waste the pilot lamps call attention.
Finally, a master switch to control all the lights of the home at once and from a given place will prove the best burglar scaring device possible.
LIGHT BULBS & SHADES
Detail showing two common forms of shade holders
Bare lamp bulbs must never be exposed to view unless they are frosted. The most flagrant violations of this rule occur when the glass shade is too small, or too flat, or when the wrong shade holder is used. For all ordinary electric shades there are but two types of holders, designated as forms “O” and “H.” These are readily distinguishable since the first one mentioned is shallow, and the latter is about one inch deeper.
The sketch shows these two types in their essential features, and shows furthermore how the same shade may be held in its correct place down around the lamp or too high up on it.
Sometimes the shade holders are in the form of a casing or “husk,” completely enclosing the socket, in which event the husk must be originally made of the correct length for the exact shade and lamp combination that is to be used. Common holders, such as shown in the sketch, are readily detachable from the socket, so form “H'”may be substituted for form “O,” or vice versa.
A COMMON MISTAKE
Craftsman standard lamp with woven willow shade
These facts are primary and essential. The householder can allow his lighting installation to be marred more often by using one form of holder where the other type should be used than by any other mistake- a result the most glaring fault is the one in which the lamp bulb projects below the lower rim of the shade, causing a large loss of lighting efficiency and a harmful, glaring light from exposed lamp filaments.
Even bulbs in correct positions in shades should be frosted on their lower end, or “bowl frosted,” except perhaps in certain very deep and narrow types of shades.
A residence shade should protect the eves; redirect the light rays of highly decorative accessories, limiting them to certain areas, and also heighten aesthetic effects through the charm of warm and cool colors. These are procurable in a great many designs of shades that are of so-called milkglass, which diffuses and reflects the rays and which, when substituted for the cheaper crystal roughed shades, soon pays for itself.
Colored shades are of many kinds. Some are good reflectors, or comparatively small absorbers of light, and these of course will be chosen first. They have decidedly different appearances and tints when lighted than when “cold,” a fact which should not be overlooked in purchasing.
SIZES AND TYPES OF BULBS
The lamp bulbs themselves, if we grant electricity to be the source of light, must be of the sizes recommended by the shade manufacturers or equally competent authorities. Undoubtedly the greatest saving of expense comes from the use of the tungsten or metal filament lamps. Variations of one of the three general classes of lighting fixtures, namely, the direct, the indirect, or the semi-indirect, would
be suitable for many rooms in the home.
Lighting fixture of the indirect type
Briefly, these types are interdistinguishable in that the direct lighting system employs one-arm or several-arm fixtures with downward pointing open bottom shades; the indirect uses inverted opaque reflectors that throw all of their rays upward to the ceiling surface, from whence the light is broadly diffused; and the semi-indirect system uses inverted shades or bowls of translucent glass or cloth, giving some directly downward diffused light and some light that is broadly spread about, after having been thrown to the ceiling.
The accompanying illustration of the semi-indirect glass bowl and three-chain support is a typical one of this last and deservedly popular type. Such a semi-indirect fixture would be excellent in a hallway of ordinary dimensions, if we, in placing it, take due care that it will not shine directly into the eyes of a person descending the stairs. Similar types of bowls are well chosen for the library of many homes, as one of the illustrations here discloses, for such fixtures prevent glare and form soft and cheerful units. Portable lamps in conjunction with such ceiling fixtures fit in admirably and are in themselves, worthy of much attention.
The end-
Take a look at my Pinterest page to view more examples of Stickley lighting & furniture. If you should like to learn more about Stickley, you can watch some great videos here.
THIS IS JUST PART 2 OF AN IN-DEPTH SERIES ON LIGHTING
The lighting of the A&C era parallels the philosophy & aesthetic of period. Pieces were uncomplicated, inspired by nature & complemented the look of the architecture, the furniture & the other items in the room. Materials were employed “honestly,” which is to say, they were not meant to have the appearance of something that they were simply not. Metal was not molded & gilded to resemble a bouquet of flowers. It was hammered & patinated to enhance its natural qualities. Lamps were made of clay from the earth, or even willow branches. Those created by Californian Elizabeth Eaton Burton, were made in the sinuous shapes of the ocean & she even embellished them with seashells!
Simple round or square shapes were used to house the bulbs. This is not to say that the striving to create a beautiful object was abandoned. It was a different beauty, widely divergent from the ornate excess of the Victorians with their miles of scroll work & armies of plump cherubs. I urge you to learn more about the Arts & Crafts aesthetic in DESIGNING YOUR BUNGALOW’S INTERIOR SPACES– an Introduction.
Like our homes with their myriad influences, both high style & vernacular, from the rustic hut of India to the Swiss Chalet to the flair of Japan, the lighting of the A&C era displays a charming range of styles, many of which are appropriate in our bungalows. Some styles are easy to combine, & others are not so easy to integrate. For example, a more modest Stickley lamp, created for the middle-class home, would feel like a poor relation in a Greene & Greene bungamasion. A ceiling fixture like this exquisite example of lighting from the Robert Blacker House, would not be in harmony with the other elements of our living rooms.
STYLES IN THE LIGHTING OF THE A&C ERA
Generally, in a single room the same style, which complements the architecture, the furniture & other décor, would be repeated in the attached fixtures & also in the table & floor lamps. The private spaces held lighting that was more modest. Life was more formal when our homes were built & guests did not casually venture into these areas. I read somewhere (I read a lot about old houses!) that marble thresholds which poked out from the doorways, were used in bathrooms to indicate where the facilities were located so that guests would not embarrass themselves by inadvertently entering m’lady’s boudoir when wandering through a closed door in the hallway in search of the commode. Truth or urban legend? I don’t know, but it sounds plausible!
Jane Powell’s book, BUNGALOW DETAILS: INTERIOR includes some beautiful images of lighting in the section, Entry Level. In it she states. “The earliest electric lights tended to be nothing more than a bare light bulb on a cord- a conspicuous display of new technology-but these soon morphed into simple pendants, sconces, chandeliers & so forth. Arts & Crafts design influence on fixtures was wide-ranging.”
It is worthwhile to read this information which also tells you a great deal about the development of the lightbulb.
We need to consider historic lighting of the A&C era in a er-r-r, different light, from today’s illumination sources. Before the turn of the last century, we had been accustomed to living in the dim light of gas or candles. With the advent of home electricity, we gained considerable wattage, but though it was still below that provided by today’s LED’s, it was glaring to those unaccustomed to its intense glow. I have included in this series, an article straight out of Stickley’s Craftsman magazine, LIGHTING THE HOME BY ELECTRICITY which addresses this issue & I will be covering the subject of choosing the best modern technology lightbulbs in a future article.
TIP: For a major treat, visit, the Pinterest page of AntiqueLighting.com.
THIS IS ONLY ONE PART OF A SERIES ON ARTS & CRAFTS LIGHTING
ARTS & CRAFTS LIGHTING DESIGNERS- Van Erp & Stickley
In 1882, the first houses in America got electricity by direct current after Thomas A Edison opened the Pearl Street Power Station in New York City. Consuming coal for fuel, Pearl Street Station, began by serving 400 lamps at 82 houses. Only 2 years later, Pearl Street Station was serving 508 customers with 10,164 lamps! A wonderful opportunity for the Arts & Crafts lighting designers of the period.
Metropolitan areas got electric power long before rural ones, again a matter of economics. It was costly to install the poles & string the wires that carried the power, so utility companies would send people out to areas that had no service yet to survey families as to how much current they were likely to use each month & ask if they were interested in having service to their homes. As you might imagine, it was pretty easy to sign people up.
Electric lamps were in demand & designers hopped right on it! Craftsman Workshops, Stickley Brothers, & Roycroft, all displayed their lighting fixtures in model rooms, designed to complement their furniture, metalwork, & textiles.
One of the most fabulous areas of the American Museum of Arts & Crafts is the lighting exhibit. Below are some of the masters whose work is displayed there.
DIRK VAN ERP- METALSMITH
I consider Van Erp’s simple lighting, constructed of hand-hammered copper with mica shades, to be iconic symbols of the Arts & Crafts Movement. He is considered to be the most important metalsmith of the Movement & one of the foremost Arts & Crafts lighting designers.
Van Erp was born into a family of coppersmiths in 1862, in the Netherlands. Coming to America in 1890, he worked at Union Iron Works until 1900, when he moved to Vallejo, California & began working at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard & he began hammering vases from brass shell casings which he gave to friends. His earlier pieces are in the more ornate Victorian style but as time progresses, you can see the A&C influence, featuring objects of a hand-hammered simplicity, to satisfy marketplace demand.
About 1907 Van Erp began selling to art galleries & a year later, he founded the Art Copper Shop in Oakland. Exhibiting his work at local Arts & Crafts exhibitions, a year later, his shop won a gold medal at the World’s Fair held in Seattle, Washington.
That same year, he began a short-lived partnership with Elizabeth Eleanor D’Arcy Gaw who had attended The Art Institute of Chicago as well as having studied English Arts & Crafts in London. He was influenced by her designs & began incorporating mica into the shades. This material would become a part of his trademark.
In addition to his rustic hammering, Van Erp was admired for the beautiful patinas of his pieces. These were created by the use of assorted chemicals & processes depending on the color desired- primarily red, but yellow & dark browns often added interest & depth to the red. Van Erp did not teach the methods or the formulations of these applied patinas to his apprentices, nor even to own his children! Over the decades, people have experimented with many materials- chalk, brick dust, various chemicals trying to duplicate his colors. No one has achieved a dependable formula.
Today his work is widely emulated by skilled artisans as well as manufacturers of mass-produced goods. Most of his original work is signed with his windmill signature, in several variations. To see more examples of his work, check out my Pinterest page.
FYI- In 2002, a Van Erp lamp sold for $180,000 at a Rago auction.
GUSTAV STICKLEY- DESIGNER, PHIOSOPHER, ENTREPENEUR
Stickley is the patriarch of Arts & Crafts in America having brought the philosophy & design with him from Europe. He is seen in interesting contrast to van Erp who was first a metalsmith, rather than an idealist, but both were entrepreneurs & skilled at marketing their wares.
LIGHTING THE HOME BY ELECTRICITY
From The craftsman Vol. XXIV, Number 1 April 1913
“Since evening is often the time when each member of the family is most at liberty to enjoy the home, it appears as a matter of reason that it should, wherever possible, be well and artistically lighted. In fact light stands for cheerfulness as well as brilliancy, for decoration as well as utility, for cosiness as well as sharp disclosures. Whatever else may be the qualities of the home furnishings, yet are they dependent upon whether a cursory or a careful study has been given to their illumination.”
The article goes on to discuss what careful study would be & begins with the proper placement of lights & other objects in each room, from the front porch to the living room to the bathroom (on each side of the shaving mirror), taking into account where one would want the sharpest light to focus & where the shadows would fall. He also advises the reader to consider wiring costs & safety. And as mentioned, there is the choice of fixtures as ornamentation.
The article addresses all types of fixtures- pendants, chandeliers, sconces & table & floor lamps. He suggests that rooms have several sources of lighting in order to diffuse & soften the central source of illumination, a technique still used by decorators today.
An entrepreneur is defined as a person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to do so. Stickley definitely took enormous risks as he strove to be the arbiter of taste for his period. Like Martha Stewart, in his publication, The Craftsman Magazine, there are articles about landscaping, furnishings architecture, good design, even encouraging home crafting by printing plans for making furniture in the Craftsman style. He built a bit of an empire- a large department store in which he sold furniture, lighting, textiles, in the style he termed Craftsman. His home, in which he had planned to start a school, became a farm where he grew the food for the beautiful restaurant in his store. A good way to understand him & his contributions is to watch these videos about him.
I’m guessing that Stickley lighting is the most often reproduced & though much of it is represented as being in the Stickley style, there are possibly some pretty good forgeries floating around out there. The Stickley furniture company has a lovely line of lamps but if you want to really be impressed by the lighting of Stickley & others, you need to visit the American Arts & Crafts Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Meanwhile, take a look at my Pinterest page to view more examples of his work.
ONLY 1 PART OF A FULL SERIES ON ARTS & CRAFTS LIGHTING
Few things are more at home in a bungalow than American art pottery. Its bright colors & luster bring cheer & light to a dark interior & add details that complement the simple lines of the more rustic Arts & Crafts furniture & Craftsman architectural details.
This article will cover residential illumination, with emphasis on bungalow lighting design basics. We’re going to look at types of lighting, as they could be applied to your unique home.
Our fireplaces contribute to the ambient light. At one time, they would have provided a main source of visibility & warmth. The family would have crowded ’round after the sun set for warmth, comradery & entertainment, as well as illumination. (I cannot but compare a similar scene today- the family sitting around the big screen TV, in the cold glow of its blue light, each person mute & staring, some looking at their phones.)
Reading by the fire was a common pastime which we would find rather uncomfortable now. After our homes were wired for electricity, we eagerly employed lamps to read & write, to cook & wash dishes, to shave, to accomplish the many tasks inherent in daily living. I’m in hearty agreement! Should I need to read a set of tiny directions, or figure out what my cat has in his mouth, I want light & plenty of it.
Let me be perfectly clear here about the use of can or recessed lights. Nope, no way, no how! IN 
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The desire for lighting is in our DNA. Our circadian rhythms, our bodies’ clocks, determine the patterns of our bodies, our minds & behavior over a 24 hour cycle & respond to light & dark. Light exposure generates signals from our brains, releasing hormones that keep us awake & perky during the day. Darkness activates sleep hormones.
The kerosene lamp was developed in 1850 & was used until electricity took its place. This type of lamp is still sometimes used in emergencies when electricity fails & light is needed.
There’s nothing more beautiful than the fixtures you see in the 
This is not meant in any way to denigrate your home. It is merely to state that the look & feel of your house are different from these bunga-mansions (as Jane Powell termed her magnificent house in Oakland) as their decorative elements look no more appropriate in a more simple home than would the crown jewels with your jeans. (And yes, I know that there are those out there who would wear such a combination & 1 in 1,000 of them would pull it off.) There are still some amazing options out there that would enhance your home rather than overwhelming it.
We move into a new house, even an old house that’s new to us, & the electrical is just there, be it knob & tube, or an updated system. It wasn’t always this way! 
The lighting of the A&C era parallels the philosophy & aesthetic of period. Pieces were uncomplicated, inspired by nature & complemented the look of the architecture, the furniture & the other items in the room. Materials were employed “honestly,” which is to say, they were not meant to have the appearance of something that they were simply not. Metal was not molded & gilded to resemble a bouquet of flowers. It was hammered & patinated to enhance its natural qualities. Lamps were made of clay from the earth, or even willow branches. Those created by Californian 
Like our homes with their myriad influences, both high style & vernacular, from the rustic hut of India to the Swiss Chalet to the flair of Japan, the lighting of the A&C era displays a charming range of styles, many of which are appropriate in our bungalows. Some styles are easy to combine, & others are not so easy to integrate. For example, a more modest 
In 1882, the first houses in America got electricity by direct current after Thomas A Edison opened the Pearl Street Power Station in New York City. Consuming coal for fuel, Pearl Street Station, began by serving 400 lamps at 82 houses. Only 2 years later, Pearl Street Station was serving 508 customers with 10,164 lamps! A wonderful opportunity for the Arts & Crafts lighting designers of the period.
I consider Van Erp’s simple lighting, constructed of hand-hammered copper with mica shades, to be iconic symbols of the Arts & Crafts Movement. He is considered to be the most important metalsmith of the Movement & one of the foremost Arts & Crafts lighting designers.
In addition to his rustic hammering, Van Erp was admired for the beautiful patinas of his pieces. These were created by the use of assorted chemicals & processes depending on the color desired- primarily red, but yellow & dark browns often added interest & depth to the red. Van Erp did not teach the methods or the formulations of these applied patinas to his apprentices, nor even to own his children! Over the decades, people have experimented with many materials- chalk, brick dust, various chemicals trying to duplicate his colors. No one has achieved a dependable formula.
“Since evening is often the time when each member of the family is most at liberty to enjoy the home, it appears as a matter of reason that it should, wherever possible, be well and artistically lighted. In fact light stands for cheerfulness as well as brilliancy, for decoration as well as utility, for cosiness as well as sharp disclosures. Whatever else may be the qualities of the home furnishings, yet are they dependent upon whether a cursory or a careful study has been given to their illumination.”
An entrepreneur is defined as a person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to do so. Stickley definitely took enormous risks as he strove to be the arbiter of taste for his period. Like Martha Stewart, in his publication, The Craftsman Magazine, there are articles about landscaping, furnishings architecture, good design, even encouraging home crafting by printing plans for making furniture in the Craftsman style. He built a bit of an empire- a large department store in which he sold furniture, lighting, textiles, in the style he termed Craftsman. His home, in which he had planned to start a school, became a farm where he grew the food for the beautiful restaurant in his store. A good way to understand him & his contributions is to watch these 