Because Arts & Crafts interiors were often dark (all that paneling soaks up a lot of light), folks often made up the difference with floor and table lamps. The idea was to have pools of light amid the darkness, which is much more interesting than all-over illumination. Many period lamps were analogous to attached fixtures, with bases of metal (most often copper or bronze) or wood, and similar design elements. Bases for table lamps could also be ceramic—many were made by well-known art potteries of the time. Lampshades might be made of willow, wicker, fabric, paper, or parchment, in addition to the materials used for shades on attached fixtures. Of course, the most iconic Arts & Crafts lamps were the leaded glass lamps of Louis Comfort Tiffany, and hammered metal lamps by Dirk Van Erp and Roycroft, but there were many other shops and manufacturers. Some lamps were individually crafted; others were mass-produced, and that is still true today. An antique table lamp might cost a few hundred dollars or many thousands, depending on who made it; likewise, a newly crafted or reproduction lamp can still cost four figures if made by a contemporary craftsperson, or less than a hundred dollars if you buy a knock-off.
Although carbon and tungsten filament bulbs didn’t give off as much light as we’re now used to (around the equivalent of a modern 25-watt incandescent), to people coming out of an era of gaslight and kerosene, they seemed pretty darn bright. Shades provided an ideal solution for diffusing the resultant glare. The most common material for shades was glass, which could be etched, cut, hand-painted, bent, leaded, molded, or even all of these things at once. Glass also could be combined with metal or wood in various ways. Another popular material used in shades was mica, a material from a group of minerals known as phyllosilicates, which form thin, translucent flakes that are combined with shellac to form sheets. Other shade materials included paper, alabaster, and leather.