Mid Century Modern Mercury Silvered Table Lamp. Crafted in the shape of a Chinese vase, with original finial and shade from Roseart in New York City as well as the original plug and cord. Likely from the 1950s through 1970s. 

Condition: Works. 

Size with Shade: 14 x 14 x 33 in. 

Size without Shade: 7 x 7 x 33 in. 

Mercury glass (or silvered glass) is glass that was blown double-walled then “silvered” between the layers with a liquid silvering solution and sealed. The glass was free-blown, then silvered with a solution containing silver nitrate and grape sugar in solution, heated, then closed. Sealing methods include metal discs covered with a glass round or a cork inserted into the unpolished pontil scar. Mercury silvered glass was produced originally around 1840 until at least 1930 in Bohemia (now the Czech Republic), Germany, and was also manufactured in England from 1849 to 1855. Edward Varnish and Frederick Hale Thomson patented the technique for silvering glass vessels in 1849, and their works were often cased with a layer of colored glass in jewel tones of ruby red, cobalt blue, amethyst purple, and emerald green before being cut to silver to create a unique effect. Companies in the United States, including the Boston and Sandwich Glass Company, New England Glass Company, Union Glass Co., and the Boston Silver Glass Company made silvered glass from about 1852 to 1880. All of these companies decorated their pieces with a variety of techniques including painting, enameling, etching, and surface engraving. Silvered glass is often collected as one of the first true “art glass” types, as it was already well-known that mercury caused health problems and therefore pieces made with it were made solely for display and artistic purposes rather than for utilitarian use. New and safe applications of mercury to create a highly-reflective surface appeared in the mid century modern movement, where a razor-thin layer of plastic or other synthetic protective compound was applied on top, much like lacquer on cinnabar in ancient China. Today the process is still used, although aluminum began to usurp all other kinds of metal for its shine, reflection, and malleability in the 1990s.

Works.