Shade Holders

Shade carriers, or shade holders as these parts are commonly called, are rather simply constructed carriers, very often made of brass, which only serve to hold the shade of a lamp firmly and securely. Due to their unadorned appearance, they can hardly contribute to the outer appearance of a lamp. On the other hand, they are very important, because without them you can hardly attach a shade to a lamp.

I will divide shade holders into three groups:

a) Large shade holders to hold the Vesta and Rochester shades
b) Small shade holders (= globe holders) to hold the ball, tulip and Paris shades
c) Other shade holders

Shade Holders for Vesta and Rochester Shades

Vesta shades for table lamps have a fitter width of up to 235 mm at the bottom (American shades even up to 250 mm), so they need holders of a corresponding size to fit the shade inside. To distinguish them from the much smaller globe holders for ball and tulip shades, the large holders are called "shade hoops" in German. In English-speaking countries, however, they are called "shade holders", and I will also use this term consistently for large shade holders for Vesta and Rochester shades.

Shade holders consist of an outer ring formed by a round brass sheet folded into an L-shape and a much smaller inner ring. The outer ring is connected to the inner ring by three (or four in the case of larger examples) brass rods that have a slightly curved S-shape. The diameter of the outer ring corresponds to the fitter width of the shade, whereas that of the inner ring corresponds to the diameter of the burner gallery, because it is inserted above the basket on the burner so that it firmly encloses the gallery. This inner brass ring, similar to the gallery of a burner, has bendable prongs to attach it to the burner properly. In any case, one must ensure a secure, firm hold of this ring on the burner so that the expensive Vesta shade cannot fall down and break. Of course, the inner diameter of the shade holder must be slightly larger than the fitter width of the shades so that the shade fits inside.

The common shade holders that can be purchased at present have outer diameters of 155 mm, 190 mm and 235 mm to fit corresponding Vesta shades. An arbitrary combination of the holder size with the burner size is not always given. Smaller shade holders tend to fit smaller burners, larger holders tend to fit larger burners. The only remaining source for new shade holders (and globe holders) in Germany is currently the online shop of Jürgen Breidenstein (www.hytta.de). He supplies the following sizes (if in stock): 155 and 190 mm for 10’’’ Kosmos burners as well as 155, 190 and 235 mm for 14’’’ Kosmos burners. Unfortunately, shielding shade holders for 20-line burners are no longer available. If you still need shade holders with unusual or deviating outer diameters that you can't find anywhere, you have to make them yourself. I describe how to do this in the chapter Repairs - Working on Burners - Construction of Shade Holders.

Another variant of the shade holder does not have an inner ring to clip on, but its three brass arms are directly soldered into the basket of the burner. In other words, the burner carries its own shade holder firmly with it. This version is often found on the older German lamps with a Vesta shade. The advantage of this version is that the shade holder is really firmly attached to the burner. The disadvantage is that you can no longer use the holder as soon as the burner that is firmly attached to it is defective and has to be replaced. Skilled collectors can, however, unsolder the soldering points on the basket and re-solder the shade holder to another burner they want to use. However, some practice in soldering must be available in any case.

Larger shades, such as Rochester shades in the hanging lamps, of course require larger shade holders, but these are now no longer attached to the burner but to a central, appropriately sized ring that is firmly attached to the upper rim of the hanging lamp's vase. The holder hoop of these lamps is also not connected to the central ring with simple brass rods, but with very elaborately designed cast iron (or cast brass in the case of the French hanging lamps) carrier arms with exuberant ornamentation.

American shade holders for Vesta shades sometimes do not have a round holder hoop at all, but only the three brass rods whose ends are bent upwards. The shade is simply placed on these three arms.

Different types of shade holders for Vesta and Rochester shades
Top row, from left: Shade holder (235 mm) with the inner ring for mounting on a 14'''/15''' burner
Shade holder (235 mm) firmly soldered to a burner basket (20''' Ideal burner)
Bottom row, from left: Homemade shade holder (210 mm) with the inner ring for mounting on a 20''' burner
American shade holder (250 mm) without the outer ring

Globe Holders for Ball, Tulip and Paris Shades

The shade holders for ball and tulip shades are much smaller than the shades themselves, because the maximum fitter width of these shades is 100 mm, with very few exceptions. Accordingly, there are shade holding rings made of brass whose inner opening is dimensioned for the common burner sizes. These smaller shade holders are consistently called "globe holders" even if they hold a tulip shade instead of a glass globe. The globe holders consist of a single ring, the outer edge of which is folded upwards in an L-shape, and the inner edge, similar to the shade holder inner ring, has bendable prongs to firmly attach the globe holder to the burner, above the basket around the gallery. The diameter of the globe holder must be slightly wider than the fitter width of the glass shade.

The choice of globe holders in the trade is now also very limited. The common sizes still sold today have diameters of 70 mm (for 10’’’ and 14’’’/15’’’ burners), 85 mm (for 14’’’/15’’’ burners), and 95 mm (for 20’’’ burners). They are available only at www.hytta.de (if in stock). The in my opinion very important size of 100 mm for 20’’’ burners is no longer available in Germany. This size is currently only available in the UK. There are also no 100 mm globe holders for 14’’’ Cosmos or 15’’’ flame disc burners. Single old examples turn up sporadically on eBay Great Britain. Much smaller 50 to 65 mm diameter globe holders for small French tulip shades are also absent. One does not find any globe holders at all for burners with an intermediate size, e.g. with 62 mm inner diameter for 16’’’ burners (Central Vulkan or Kosmos burners) or with 75 mm inner diameter for British 3 inch tulip shades. So it is clear that the variety of earlier times has disappeared. Either you are lucky and can find the missing sizes on eBay or at flea markets etc., or you are resourceful and create the necessary globe holders yourself, as also described in the chapter Repairs - Working on Burners - Construction of Globe Holders.

The old glass tulips for gas lamps, which have an opening of more than 100 mm at the bottom, require a special size. There are some that have a diameter of 110 to 125 mm. To use these tulip shades on kerosene/paraffin lamps, you have to get hold of appropriately sized globe holders, which are hardly available in Europe any more. In the USA, 5-inch globe holders are still produced and offered, which are more like small shade holders: an outer ring with a diameter of about 125 mm is connected with three small brass rods to an inner ring, the size of which is roughly suitable for our 20-line burners. You can get such a globe holder from the US online trade if you really want to put on a tulip shade of this unusual size. I have also seen newly made 5 inch globe holders on eBay that have been made from an ordinary 4 inch globe holder (i.e. 100 mm diameter) by soldering another 125 mm diameter brass ring to the outside, thus extending the diameter of a common globe holder by simple means.

Another problem is posed by tulip or ball shades whose fitter width is quite a bit smaller than the diameter of the nearest fitting globe holder. In such a case, the shade does not get a good hold and is quite mobile in the globe holder; it "floats". For example, an old English tulip shade with a 3-inch fitter width (approx. 75 mm) literally "floats" in an 85 mm globe holder. Better fitting 3 inch globe holders are unfortunately not to be found. I have always tried to remedy this case, because a free-moving shade can fall over very easily when you transport the lamp to another place. In particular, the former ball shades for Moderator lamps without a fitter definitely need auxiliary measures in order to fit them well centred and without play in suitable globe holders. For this purpose, I soldered small brass plates cut to fit vertically to the inner opening of the globe holder, so that the shade could now be placed exactly without play. Since the additional brass plates were almost invisible inside the shade fitter, they did not interfere visually. The same effect can be achieved with small brass rods soldered to the inner edge of the L-shaped wall of the globe holder.

Various globe holders for ball shades and tulips
Top row, from left: Commercially available globe holders (100, 85 and 70 mm)
A combination globe holder consisting of two globe holders (e.g. 70 mm + 85 mm)
American 5 inch globe holder (125 mm) (provided screws removed here; vertical brass plates attached by myself)
Bottom row, from left: Self-expanded 85 mm globe holder with 62 mm inner diameter
Globe holder with brass plates soldered vertically inside to stabilise a Moderator ball shade without fitter
Globe holder with soldered brass rods to reduce the pick-up radius from 85 to 75 mm

Other Types of Shade Holders

Other types of shade holders can be seen on some lamps where the lampshade with a large lower opening is not placed on a shade holder ring but hung in a special holder, such as the "Parisienne lamps" with their metal shades. Here, the conception of the wide shade holder has been changed so that the inner ring made of a flat disc is now not designed to be put on the burner, but to be mounted between the font collar and the burner (or sometimes between the wick knob ring and the burner basket). The three long brass arms then go up quite steeply to hold a conically shaped ring at the top, onto which you finally insert the lampshade by placing the narrow neck of the shade on this upper ring. The size of the upper ring must of course be adapted to the size of the lampshade in the upper neck area. The disadvantage of this type of shade holder is the "loose posture" of the attached shade, which can easily assume a crooked position. The large silk shades, the brass shades of the Parisienne lamps and also the cardboard shades in the German piano lamps are held in place with such holders.

Another, simpler type of shade holder for cardboard shades comes from France. Here, small, conically shaped and somewhat ornate brass rings have been fitted with springy little arms with which the brass ring can be attached to the glass chimney at any height. Due to the springy little metal arms, the ring is firmly pressed against the glass chimney at this point and cannot easily slip down. The cardboard shade with the matching top opening is simply placed on the conical ring. In the lamps with Vienna chimneys, this ring is stuck anyway at a certain height of the chimney due to the widening chimney diameter. The crux of this plausibly simple version is that old, original cardboard shades can no longer be found (the material is obviously not very suitable for surviving 100 or more years).

For the very large hanging lamps with wide, flat shades made of several, flat glass panes, hanging devices usually in the form of ornate, lyre-shaped frames made of cast iron were used. This metal frame held the kerosene/paraffin tank together with burner and chimney in a suitable ring at the bottom. The upper part of the lyre frame had again a metal ring at the appropriate height to place the huge shade with its neck area on it.

Other types of shade holders
From left: Shade holder for large silk shades (original W&W) to be placed on the burner
Shade holder for metal shades of the Parisienne lamps, to be placed between font collar and burner
Shade holder for cardboard shades, placed on a glass chimney