Swagtastic lamps

Submitted by MeshuggaMel December 3rd, 2009

Ah, swag lamps. There’s just something inherently sophisticated about a lamp on the end of a chain, especially one that extends lazily from the socket to the lamp. Here are a few that hang proudly in our house. The top picture is of two orbs of plastic in a random weave, one orange and the other clear. The second is a wood / glass / metal number that looks somewhere between a rocket and a claw. The bottom has been somewhat emasculated, but this was the most sensible place to put it, just outside the room with the two orbs. This one is also plastic, but nested orbs in a geometric pattern.

As the family member responsible for fix-its, honey-dos, and items requiring some assembly, I’m a big fan of swag lamps since I can get the lighting fixture where I want it without the hours crawling in the attic running wires. They’re even more exciting when you plug one in and discover that the mystery switch on the wall that you’ve been wondering about is an on/off for that socket. That makes them totally swag-tastic!

2 Responses to “Swagtastic lamps”

  1. Allee Willis

    I love and collect swag lamps, especially spun spaghetti ones. I have a lot of solid ones like the two in the first photo. There’s at least 10 of them hanging in my backyard and outside my studio. I change all the fixtures to 12V and they become outdoor lights. Many of mine also have multicolor resin rocks as well as flat starburst pieces of resin glued on top of them.

    Love the wooden 70s one in the middle as well.

    I know what you mean about that light switch that never worked before all of a sudden popping on.

  2. Mark Milligan

    I also like your pole lamp in the background of the middle picture! An illuminating staple in our household in the 60’s!