The globe for the Empress is now correct (although the cap should be a silver metal, the wood looks great). It was given to me by my partner from his Regency. It's an original wood cap and the liquid/lava is original. The rocket lamp I got years ago (along with my other 2) from England. Those were never sold in the States. The Princess I have had for years but just hung it up yesterday with the Empress. I bought both of them from ye old mighty eBay (where else?). They both have their original hanging brackets. The Empress is EXTREMELY RARE AND I believe it is the only known one that is "in tact" (correct me if I'm wrong Jonas). After hanging them up, I wonder why they didn't make more of them (or at least re-issue them). It seems so natural to have lava lamps as wall sconces!
Yes, this Empress is the only one known intact, but if you consider it as having come minus globe, there have been two: I bought mine at a thrift store sans globe and it sat around for years.
I visited a junk shop and they were selling a bizarre modified Princess, consisting of the globe, cup and stem mounted on a massive, smooth-sanded, S-shaped tree branch, which in turn was attached to a three foot long oval of wood - a steep diagonal cut from a tree trunk, bark still on. Story was, some guy bought a lot nearby in the 60s, cleared it, built the house from the logs, and built furniture from more wood from the lot - I'm sure he bought a lava lamp and modded it himself.
I took the horrid trunk thing off, and put Princess and Empress together to create a hybrid (years before I got a real Princess). Now, the modded Empress and the old Empress cup and stem are off to another collector, as part of a longstanding trade agreement, and he will likely do a far better job restoring them than I did slapping together a hybrid.
Yup, Empress number 2 is on it's way! It'll also have a globe from a Regency. Thank you Jonas. The wait was worth it. I hope to hang it in the same room as my Crestworth sconce. Next on my wish list: a Princess.
Thanks, man. We should talk some day! I hung my Crestworth sconce in another room because I didn't think it matched the the US versions. You can see a pic of it in my pics, though. I'm trying to get everything more organized so that I can enjoy them. I have culled a number of lamps from my collection so that my favorites could be displayed properly. Just when you think you have every one, along comes another. You have quite a beautiful collection yourself!