There are a handful of websites, catalogs, and stores that I like to browse for steampunk home items. One of the best is The Sundance Catalog, Robert Redford's lifestyle catalog.
I like this description of the catalog by Redford:
"To us, Sundance is and always will be a dream. What you see, smell, taste and feel here is a dream being carefully nurtured. "
The inventory turns over within a year, so you'll find things mentioned in the Kaboodle list that aren't available anymore, but they replenish it with plenty of wonderful new things. Here's a sampling of what's currently available.
8 comments:
Wow. Pretty cool stuff. That dude has so much good taste.
If only the Eureka Lamp were still available, but it's been out of stock for a few months now, probably never to return.
That Eureka lamp is exactly what I've been looking for for centerpieces for my steampunk wedding. Too bad it's too expensive. I have found these: http://houseofantiquehardware.com/40-Watt-Antique-Style-Edison-Reproduction-Light-Bulb?Partner=froog
But I need a way to screw them into a base that is cordless. I don't want any guests tripping over cords. Know of anything that could help?
The Libary Shop at the NY Public Library has a similar lamp.
http://www.thelibraryshop.org/products2.cfm/ID/25619/c/lamps-booklights
sorry if I was misleading, Andy.
Really cool stuff. It looks like the big companies are starting to catch on. Thanks for the post.
I'm probably naive but the Eureka doesn't look that complicated to make. Jake? Anyone?
Hmmm. The decorative lamps are indeed simple enough to make; what puts them over the top is the fancy bulbs. If we could source those...
Re sourcing the old-style bulbs: A quick websearch found a few more variants:
http://www.rejuvenation.com/fixshowMRB4/templates/selection.phtml
http://www.thelibraryshop.org/products2.cfm/ID/25620/c/lamps-booklights
http://www.potterybarn.com/products/p10857/index.cfm
http://www.amazon.com/Antique-Light-Squirrelcage-Filament-Reproduction/dp/B0002GPIEU
http://www.kaboodle.com/reviews/antique-style-edison-reproduction-light-bulb
Another approach might be to play with gas-discharge bulbs. (Remember the bulbs we used to see in joke shops that contained glowing flowers or skulls or whatever?) They don't throw much light, but they can be very decorative and since they've fallen out of fashion people find them surprising and interesting. And they draw relatively little power.
Re Tracy's question about cordless... Even 40 watts is a lot of power to go cordless with. Best thought I've got is a large gel-cell battery stuffed under the table, feeding an inverter to give you the 110V the bulb needs. If you don't feel like kluging that up yourself, commercial units which provide that function are available in the car-tools section of some stores, since they're primarily marketed as self-contained jump-starters. Mine claims to supply about 300 watt-hours, so it might last through dinner.
The alternative would be to go looking for fancy 12V bulbs and run them directly off the battery. That would have the advantage of letting you use a lamp fixture with exposed terminals, if you like the experimental-equipment look. (Of course you could set up a 110V fixture with dummy terminals and wiring, not connected to anything...)
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