What Are Handel Lamps? Everything You Need To Know
There are many antique lamps that were focused on the base and neck of the lamp but the Handel lamps focused on the shade of the lamp. Handel lamps were created by a man named Philip Handel who developed painted glass lamp shades. Gas and electric lamps were made by Handel with his specialized lamp shade that he called a reverse painted shade. He also produced leaded glass lamp shades that were similar to today's stained glass windows. Handel lamps have very simple but unique bases made out of brass or metal but the eyes go straight toward the lamp shades that are filled with vivid colors and painted-on scenery. The shades that Handel made in his earliest days came in the sizes of 10 inches and 12 inches in diameter and were set on bases that could be filled with oil or kerosene.
The Handel lamps were unique in the fact that when the light was turned on, there would be colors that seem to dance around the room from the light that streamed through the lamp shades of glass. Handel would paint landscapes, exotic birds, and different elaborate flower scenes and abstracts. In 1902, a company was opened where Handel could actually create his lamp shades in a work environment but this was cut short in 1936 due to the fact that the Art Deco transition took over. The company started out actually in 1885 when Handel partnered with Adolf Eydam and called the company "Eydam and Handel". In 1892, the partnership seemed to fade away and Handel took his skills and lamps to larger facilities where he opened his own company in 1893 call "Philip J. Handel" and then later he renamed the company to just "Handel and Company". Handel married his bride in 1906 and her name was Fannie Hirschfield Handel which actually was his second wife and she became the owner of the company when Handel died in 1914. In 1918, ironically Fannie remarried to Handel's cousin, William F. Handel and they both then ran the company together. The Handel lamps are still a wonderful collectors item today and the lamps that have been signed by various artists who also painted on the glass, are very precious to their owners. Many of the table lamps painted by Handel and other artists can sell at an auction for anything from $12,000 to $60,000 dollars. Various artists who have painted on the Handel Lamps include Bailey, Bedigie, Broggi, Gubisch, Matzow, Palme, Parlow and Runge. These artists signed all of their lamp shades to make their work authentic. Today, there are many lamps that try to pass themselves off as Handel lamps because they have a similar look to them. Lamp bases that are true Handel lamps are covered with fake lamp shades and the whole lamp is put off as a Handel lamp. But any Handel collector today will be able to spot the true Handel Lamps.
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