Looking to add another unusual lamp to my collection...

[Jonas Clark-Elliott]

I had an accident with my 60s-formula white squiggle. I bumped the globe over while the lamp was hot, clouding it badly. Then I had another accident: I tried filtering it through multiple towels and didn't realize, until after I'd washed out the towels and refilled the globe, that they retained liquid. Now my best globe is cloudy AND missing two inches of liquid. I'm pretty down in the dumps on this one. The first was due to my own stupidity at the moment (I put the globe aside on the floor, then knocked it over when I stood up) and the latter is, well, also due to my own stupidity at the moment (what, towels absorb and hold liquid? Who knew? )

My budget is rising again. First priority, ship a lamp I've owed to another collector for way too long (you know who you are, sorry about the wait!)

Second priority... I just ruined one of my best lamps. No, a white squiggle isn't too unusual, but completely functional 1966 formula IS - I could run that thing (per the instructions) for days at a time, and it wouldn't overheat!

I haven't added anything unusual to the collection in a few years... The thrift stores here get a whole lotta nothin'. Yesterday, I visited all my old junk shop haunts, and they're all either closed, or barren of lava. I found one lamp - a 1987 red/yellow Century, in a very beat-up 1960s (purple/pink/white) box, for the astounding price of only eighty five bucks! What a deal! Uh huh... So, does anyone have anything unusual they'd be willing to part with?

I'm still looking for my first "Elegant". I have the Glitterlite version... Planter or Vase, brass base, silver base or flocked base, planter need not have orig. flowers, just as long as it has functional lava in a nice color. ("Nice" being relative - many would not call color 10, red lava/green mist, "nice", though I would)

Would also love to find a functional Continental (steel oval) or Mystique (steel square) lava (I have the square glitter)

Possibly... Fog Rider, might you sell that oval red/violet lava with the odd checkered design in the metal?

Lamps I'm after but could not afford right now: Night Lite (clown Consort) or a Regency (larger Consort with metal or wood cap)

Basically, I'm just peeved that I destroyed a lamp through my own sheer stupidity and, coupled with the fact that local lava hunting has been bad for well over a year, I'd like to add something to the collection without fighting off bidders on eBay. I don't have much of anything I'd trade, i.e. doubles (a plain Lantern in red/yellow, with lava crusts in the air space - I can't get the cap off to clean it; a later-style Enchantress Planter with orig. flowers, cream lava but liquid faded to clear)

Sorry for the long, long post.
~ Jonas

(Lamps pictured below are old photos off eBay. I do NOT own these lamps)

[fog rider]

Hi Jonas.

Too bad about the Squiggle.

If you want, you can ship the globe to me, with the other lamp. I've had good luck filtering globes with my filter pump. I could try filtering it, top it up and re-balance the mix using one of my 30 watt Aristocrat bases. No guarantees, but it's worth a shot.

The oval lamp you refer to is a French lamp. I believe it's converted to 120 volts. Rather than sell it to you, I can simply send it to you as a gift. I don't have a lot of money invested in it. Perhaps if I restore the squiggle globe for you, I can ship both the globe and the French lamp to you at the same time.

If you ever find an Elegant planter that needs a floral ring, I have a spare floral ring you can have.

Cheers!

Craig

[goodude26]

So sorry about your lamp, Jonas. I know how precious the squiggles are because they are quality pieces. I have a black squiggle with a blue/red globe and I try to keep it as nice as possible because it is hard to find. the globe needs some fine tuning and I am afraid to do much to it because I dont want to ruin it. Though the tinkering I have done to it has improved the flow.

When I got the lamp there was wax sticking all inside the globe and once I cleaned it the lamp looked like brand new. The flow just needs a little more improvement.

If I ended up messing this lamp up I know I would feel the same as you.
I do hope you find another white squiggle or maybe a black squiggle with the same formula this one of yours has and works well and for hopefully not a big price.

If I had an unusual lamp I would just give it to you, but I'm afraid I don't. Just more common ones.

Try not to be too hard on yourself about this because things happen whether we like it or not.

W_J

[Jonas Clark-Elliott]

Thank you, Fog Rider - are you sure you want to give up that French oval like that? I love that checkered finish on the metal, which I've seen on only one other lamp, that triangular glitter with the little cubist chrome emblem (love that one, too, nifty shape)

Yes, I'd love to see if my Aristocrat could be filtered and topped... That's something I'll pay for if you like. Either way, I'll handle shipping.

Has the oval checked-pattern lamp been refilled? It looks wonderful as it is, in red/violet - looks like Mathmos colors. I wonder, like the US-made oval lava, if it has a pair of springs side-by-side?

I'll be on the lookout for an Elegant planter. If/when I find one, I'll buy the flower ring. What does yours look like?

[fog rider]

Yup. the French lamp is a refill. It was a burned out, half empty glitter lamp when I got it. I filled it with red/clear, and tinted the liquid a light blue color.

Don't worry about paying me for fixing the globe, or for the French lamp. Think of it as a late Christmas gift.

I've seen two different flower rings on lava lamps. One has the large, orange and yellow flowers. The other is less flashy. I have the less flashy one as a spare.

Craig

[Jonas Clark-Elliott]

Here are the two original flower styles, shown in the lamps they came with. The later Enchantress has large white six-petal flowers with yellow centers, closed orange and yellow flowers, and many tiny white flowers, with a distinctive leaf style.

The Elegant (closeup of flowers shown) has... I'm not sure if the orange things are flowers or fruits... with red flowers and burgundy-splotched green leaves.

[CubFan]

I have an Elegant I'm going to be selling soon. I do not have the flowers for it. It has a gold base and cap, I don't remember the lava color. Stay on the look out for it.

Also selling 2 consorts, one red lava and one cream lava both faded clear liquid.

[Jonas Clark-Elliott]

CubFan, let me know if you consider selling them on here. Or, if you prefer eBay's security, agreeing on a price and setting a Buy It Now. If I can afford it, I may be interested, I really love these... Let me know when you get a look at the colors inside, and whether the liquid is clear or "mist" (clouded). Consorts are both plain brass, wood or plastic brown base?

[CubFan]

The consorts are both wood base, both right here on my desk. I'll post pics early next week of all 3.

[Jonas Clark-Elliott]

What finish on the base on the Enchantress? I might be interested in that next month, when I have more $$ available... What colors is the Saturna, and what would the prices be on those two?

Sorry, not going for the Decorator... Not right now.

[CubFan]

Jonas, I think you should get Dave's. I found mine today. The color is great, orange with kind of an orange liquid. The base is perfect. The problem is it doesn't flow very good. I'll run it the next few days to see if it gets better.

[Jonas Clark-Elliott]

Thanks a lot for the note, CubFan. How's the flow in your Consorts? Sounds like they don't have "Consort Globe Syndrome", wherein all lava floats to the top and sticks there in one glob. The only thing like "white lava" I've seen in Consorts is the color called Champagne Mist, which is cream-colored wax in cloudy pale-amber liquid.

[Jonas Clark-Elliott]

My email is [e-mail], I'd love to see photos!