I have a bronze lamp in the figure of a woman dancing. her arm is out streched and holding a glass milefiori ball. The ball has a small lightbulb inside of it. Itis electric and stands less than 12 inches. It is on a marble base,the womens face is either ivory or possibly some sort of celoid. Can you point me in the right direction. I would like to be able to know the artist and the value. It seems very old and maybe had the electric added at a later date. Thanks for your help.

-- lisha cassingham (littlelish@aol.com), January 17, 2002

Answers

Very possibly the lamp could be a pixie lamp or dancer,ie ballerina They were made in the 1920's. The face looks like ivory and the eyes are usually blue. The facial material is not ivory but ivorine.Many of them were bolted to marble or alabaster bases. They usually had a gold or red wash to the spelter metal figure. There is an artist by the name of J.B.Hirsch who specialized in these figures during the art dseco period. I hope this helps with your question. Have a nice day!

-- bruce rock (bruce.rock@verizon.net), November 21, 2002.

Did you ever find out if it was by Hirsch and what its value was?

-- thushari soysa (thushari_s@hotmail.com), March 17, 2004.

I have one similar to that but mine is a mermaid with a millefiori shade it is made by Collection Francaise USA It is a company founded by J.B. Hirsh. The original molds for 300 pieces of French Bronze was disasimbled during World War and hidden, to keep out of Nazi hands. After the war Mr. Hirsh went to Europe and bought them and brought them to America and reasembled them and made a company called Francaise and hired wonderful scultures to remake the great french work that is French Bronze. There should be a stamp in the bronze on the back of the lamp. They are alot of nudes my mermaid is nude. And it is hard to find a price on them. Or much information at all. so I hope I've helped you, if you would like to see mine please feel free to email me and I'll send you a pic.

-- Marsha Moore (wvbug@aol.com), September 02, 2004.

I have been wondering about JB Hirsh Co. too. I have a "Collection Francaise" lamp that I inherited. It is about 18" or 20" tall (I have not measured it." The bronze base depicts a boy fishing, with pole, line and fish at his feet. The shade is a glass hemisphere with a reverse painted scene of a river with geese flying over. It is marked "Collection Francaise." I have wondered about its value, but have found nothing.

-- Allan Avery (museum@tulsaport.com), November 06, 2004.

I am looking for information about a Francaise Collection lamp. It is very heavy; the base has two figures, a boy and a girl - separated, and the lamp has two shades.

-- Diana Fessler (diana@fessler.com), November 20, 2004.

I too have 3-4 of these lamps, some old and some reproductions. I have been searching for information and even replacement millifori globes but have had no luck. A tag on one of the new ones (now 20 years old) refers to distribution by Hummelwerk and also to the Encyclopedia of Bronzes, sculptors and Founders. I have not located book yet. Would appreciate any information that you find. Hope this little bit helps you.

-- Patricia Miller (pug1937@comcast.net), December 11, 2004.

we have a bronze lamp, marble base (7-1/2 by 3-1/4"), with bronze female dancer (@7-1/2" tall) wearing a tutu and she looks like a jester -- she has ivory-looking face -- She is holding a globe on the shin of her raised right leg -- the globe is multi-colored glass -- is this milefiori glass?? - what IS milefior glass? Anyone found a value yet?

-- sharon anthony (sharonfiberart@aol.com), December 20, 2004.

I have a collection francaise statuette about 1 foot high, it's a bronze girl/woman sitting in a chair,has a odd looking face and appears to be very old. I can't find anything on it but everytime I show it to someone who deals in antique they want to buy it and they always ask me how much I will sell it for......

-- felita williams (lbgranny@earthlink.net), January 07, 2005.