Replacement glass shades for midcentury pendant lights — where to find them

Oops — the contractor broke the original glass shade on a midcentury pendant light fixture. Where to find a replacement? Maria writes: 

Hi! I was hoping you can help. We moved into a MCM home & are doing some renovations. We were keeping these two amazing original pendant lights in the entryway & now one of the contractors had hit one & broke the glass shade. Do you know where i can get a replacement, what the name of this particular style is, or have any suggestions on what i can do? I really loved these & am truly heart broken! Thanks! 

Answer:

West Elm’s Geo pendant light — get the milk glass shade, though, for a midcentury look.

Thanks, Maria, and so sorry for the broken shade. In a search of the ‘usual suspects’ selling midcentury modern style lighting today, I turned up the West Elm Geo light fixture shown at the right. It might work for you in the “milk glass” shade, although I tend to believe your vintage originals were a satin, not milk, finish. In addition, I don’t know if the size will be the same.

That said, it’s a pretty good proxy. Beyond, West Elm: Crickets. Hence, I think your best answer is: Vintage.

The good news is that there were a lot of lights made back in the day — and we continue to see lots of vintage originals coming out of houses — or, New Old Stock out of closed lighting stores. So my suggestion: Start stalking vintage. Ebay is your best bet, because sellers use it to reach a wide market. Also check craigslist, local lighting stores, and salvage places. If you are willing to wait long enough — years, maybe even — you may find the exact same light. Or, you may be willing to settle for a proxy.

Vintage lighting companies to look for, by name

There were many companies making lighting in midcentury America. The biggest names to search for are: Moe (aka Thomas Industries), Progress, Virden, Imperalite, and Lightolier. If you can inspect one of your lights and see the name of the maker anywhere, that will help you narrow your search. More stories to consult:

• 5 more tips from readers on how to find vintage lighting at affordable prices.
• Six tips to find affordable vintage lighting in a midcentury modern market gone mad
• Subscribe to my newsletter to never miss a story and get reminders when I write things like: 900 boxes of New Old Stock Moe and Thomas Industries lighting: Here we go again! and NOS vintage Moe lighting and more.
• See all my lighting research in the Decorate / Lighting subcategory.

Readers, any more ideas for Maria? 

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