Antique Parlor Lamp

So , the other day I posted a couple of teaser pictures of something new that Erik and I purchased to dress up Le Beau Paon's dining room.  Click HERE for that post.

We have it hung up now, so I can show you all what exactly it is..........

My apologies for the blurry photos. My camera is getting pretty ancient and I've been having issues with it lately. I think I'll have to start shopping for a new one soon.

As you can see, it's a very fancy hanging lamp! An antique hanging lamp!  Now, I realize that this hanging lamp is actually what is called a parlor lamp; obviously it would have hung in a parlor or sitting room or maybe even an entry hallway, but I just loved it so much and it's RED and all I could do was picture it hanging in my dining room, so that's where it is.

Our dining room isn't actually very large, so I didn't think it would look too small for the space and would look nice as a central light fixture.

The lamp had been wired for electricity at some point, but it began life as an oil lamp. This milk glass resevoir for the oil is usually referred to as the "font". At the top of the lamp there is a pulley-looking wheel with chain wrapped all around it for lowering the lamp so that the oil could have been re-filled. I haven't figured out how to work the mechanism yet, and the chain is a little rusty, so I'm reluctant to mess with it too much; I don't want to break anything!

The previous chandelier in this room was quite large and extremely heavy. It was not an antique or even vintage and I really hated it with a passion. When we took it down, I was astonished by it's weight. There was also a ceiling medallion around the fixture, which is why in the above photos you can see some old crusty adhesive on the ceiling where the medallion was. I will be replacing the old medallion with a new one because the old one had a very small opening that the new light fixture doesn't fit in.  We also found that the big, heavy chandelier was so heavy it had actually bent the metal bracket it was hanging from.

I'm sure some folks that are purists and are restoring their historic homes 'period-authentic' or 'museum-quality' are probably cringing that I'm using a parlor lamp in the dining room, but I guess I'm just not caring at this point. Maybe someday I'll come across a really big, elegant antique chandelier for this room and I'll move this parlor lamp elsewhere, but I'm really loving it here, and that's what matters to me!

My dining room table is still dressed in it's summery pinks, yellows and peaches.

Soon I'll be changing out the dining room decor to be more "autumnal".

Thanks for stopping by!

I'll be linking up with Colorado Lady for Vintage Thingie Thursday

and even though I'm cheating and this isn't a real tablescape, I'll be joining Tablescape Thursday hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch!