Did anyone else see this shade? Uranium lampshade ? Tilley Lamp ? | eBay Here are some images I saved in case the link no longer works.
"This listing was ended by the seller on Wed, 26 Feb at 12:59 PM because the item is no longer available."
@MYN it's doubtful, it would need the lamp to be lit. I've seen this type of shade before, usually associated with wick lamps but there were other uses. Is Uranium Glass Dangerous? Here’s How To Spot the Radioactive Glassware Uranium glass - Wikipedia
Thank you @Henry Plews So it still needs some activation/stimulation by ultraviolet radiation. Wonder if the glass' thermal coefficoent of expansion could match up favourably for use in a pressure lamp.
@Tony Press it looks like the one in the first picture that Henry posted but it is not the same one i thought i would buy a uv torch on a hunch its not a very good torch
So… The photo of the green shade you posted is one of yours, lit by a not very good UV torch, that looks, when it’s not being lit, like the same colour (unlit) of the original shade in this thread. Correct? Cheers Tony
yes it’s a small torch, the sort of thing you might use for checking bank notes in Henrys photo it’s like they used a high powered thing maybe an 80’s dance floor type that made white t shirts glow? showing me age now..
Looks like uranium was used in the manufacture of the shades at some point. Glass can get its yellow, orange, and off-white colors from small amounts of uranium in the glaze Green glassware was made with uranium oxide to make it look green You can identify uranium glass by its color under normal light, but the most definitive test is to expose it to ultraviolet light.
In my records from Neil there was a plain and a decorated with ducks version. Neil stated these were late 1940s shades. I have an image in my files of a ducks version. In Jim Dick's Tilley book on page 63 he mentions "champagne" colored shades were available along with opal post war. The common term in the US is "custard glass". They used uranium salt or oxides as a colorant in the glass formulas. It was very popular in the 1930's. Supposed to be "kind on the eyes". It reflects a green glow under UV light. Coleman 443/444, Akron Art Glass, Linderman-Holverson, all had custard glass shades offered on the 1930's lamps. The eBay ad seems focused on the current fad for "glow" or UV glass. Not sure about elsewhere, but is quite the craze in the US. Most Aladdin lamp collectors carry a black light because it has long been the way to tell a Pre War vs Post War Alacite lamp. But the current fad has taken some shades away for lamp collectors - competition. They only want the "glow". I have included an image of one opal 329 Coleman shade that has a slight reflection. The opal was run after a batch of custard and a bit of the previous run remained.
Well… you learn new things every day. The “champagne” shade that is on the Tilley Table Lamp that my parents bought after my father returned at the end of WWII (war in the Pacific), is indeed uranium glass: Here it is in natural light: Here is the lamp in the Reference Gallery: Tilley TL136/IP (1946-49; 'Pork Pie') I also found another in my stash: The two shades (my parent’s shade to the right). Cheers Tony
