This week I installed a new wall sconce in my daughter's room, and was reminded of exactly how good my favorite source for reproduction lighting is.
When our house was built, there would have been very few lighting devices in the home. People's lives were more synchronized with the sun, and lighting devices and fuel were expensive. The fireplaces would have been a constant source, and candles, either in candlesticks or lanterns would have played a role. Since Enos Kellogg was fairly well-off, there might have even been a tin candle sconce or two somewhere in the house. Rush lights, betty lamps and other oil burning devices also were in common use at the time. But, since we aren't going to walk around carrying candles at night (other than those occasions when our kids request an "old time" candlelit dinner), and since whale oil is both hard to find and apparently quite smelly, we have had to go a little more modern. So, over the past ten years, we have purchased 8 or 10 fixtures from Period Lighting Fixtures in Clarksburg, Massachusetts (
http://www.periodlighting.com/).
Most of these fixtures have been tin sconces (our ceilings are too low for most ceiling mounted fixtures), but we also have purchased a turned wood chandelier for our dining room (adios, shiny brass anachronism), and a small tin ship's cabin chandelier for one of our bathrooms. Without fail each light has turned out even better than I had hoped. The craftsmanship is unparalleled, their antiqued finishes make the fixtures fit right into our house, and everyone I have worked with at PLF is just really, really nice. I think life in the beautiful Berkshires must encourage that.
Anyway, the most recent fixture is a copy of a period fixture in the Van Rensellaer Collection from Peterboro, New Hampshire, and per their catalog, is "possibly associated with the Liberty Tree lanterns of 1766." My daughter loves it because it looks sort of like a snowflake, and because it casts a shadow on the wall that looks like the Statue of Liberty's crown.
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| Mirrored Oval Sconces in the Master Bathroom - Reproduction of Deerfield Originals |
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| Aged Tin Fan Top Sconces |
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| Turned Wood Dining Room Chandelier |
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| Diminutive Tin Sconces in Bathroom |
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| Tin Ship's Cabin Chandelier in Bathroom |
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| Tin Sconces in Second Floor Bathroom |
When our house was built, there would have been very few lighting devices in the home. People's lives were more synchronized with the sun, and lighting devices and fuel were expensive. The fireplaces would have been a constant source, and candles, either in candlesticks or lanterns would have played a role. Since Enos Kellogg was fairly well-off, there might have even been a tin candle sconce or two somewhere in the house. Rush lights, betty lamps and other oil burning devices also were in common use at the time. But, since we aren't going to walk around carrying candles at night (other than those occasions when our kids request an "old time" candlelit dinner), and since whale oil is both hard to find and apparently quite smelly, we have had to go a little more modern. So, over the past ten years, we have purchased 8 or 10 fixtures from Period Lighting Fixtures in Clarksburg, Massachusetts (http://www.periodlighting.com/). 
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