Hi Timothy,

Thank you for contacting Mearto with your appraisal inquiry.

The two lamps with bowl-shaped white shades are usually called torchieres, a term that derives from the French word 'torchère,' which originally meant a tall stand for holding a torch or large candle. The root derives from the Old French torche (“torch”), itself tracing back to the Latin torqua or torquere, meaning “to twist,” referring to twisted materials used in making torches.

Historically, a torchère was not originally an electric lamp at all. In the 17th and 18th centuries, it referred to an ornamental tall stand—often carved wood, gilt bronze, or iron—used in grand interiors to support flaming torches or candelabra for illumination.

By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the term evolved alongside electric lighting. A “torchiere lamp” came to mean a tall floor lamp with an upward-facing bowl-shaped shade designed to diffuse light toward the ceiling, echoing the upward flame of a traditional torch. They became fashionable in the Art Nouveau (late 19th-early 20th Century) and Art Deco movements (late 1920s-30s).

The other lamp is done in an earlier slightly Gothic style and has what is known as a "bridge arm" floor lamp and features charming wrought-iron scrollwork. The way in which it was wired is somewhat awkward, and there may have been some conversion at some point, though it is, particularly appealing for the green stone or marble joint and pierced base.

You don't mention if these lamps are in working condition, though all look as though they have old wiring, which would probably need to be replaced.

While you might have seen similar lamps being sold online by retail sellers for several hundred dollars each, in "as-is" condition, this group of lamps has a fair-market value of $600-$900, a range they would likely get if sold at auction.

Please let us know if you have additional items to appraise, or questions/concerns, and thank you again for using Mearto.
~ Delia