19 Most Valuable Antique Oil Lamp Worth Money

Antique oil lamps are making a comeback in the most unusual way possible; these functional items have helped lighten up our homes in ages past and are now worth a handful of money in today’s market.

These highly functional items range from $25-$200 for the common, inexpensive ones. The luxurious, rare antique oil lamps are ten times more expensive and harder to come by.

This article will help you identify antique oil lamps, discuss their evolution and help you evaluate them, and ultimately inform you about the 19 most valuable ones we have in the world today and make you a well-informed collector/buyer.

19 Most Valuable Antique Oil Lamps In The World Today

This list contains the 19 most valuable antique oil lamps today sold at auctions, online platforms, and antique stores worldwide. Prices are culled from verifiable sources, and any resemblance to an existing list is coincidental.

S/N	Name	Release Date	Price
1	F&C Osler Cut Glass and Ormolu-Mounted Oil Lamp	1880	£9,600
2	George IV Patinated and Gilt Bronze Oil Lamp	1825	£6,250
3	Dresden Porcelain Antique Oil Lamp	1888-1901	$5,150
4	Antique Astral Oil Lamp	1850-1899	$4,250
5	Aladdin Swan Oil Lamp	1800	$4,200
6	Sukunda-Newari Culture lamp	1600	$4,032
7	Victorian Molded Glass Oil Lamps	1900	£2,500
8	Antique Victorian English Oil Lamp	1880	$1,350
9	19th Century Tibetan Oil Lamp	1900	$1,275
10	Antique Victorian Rare Messenger Duplex Patent Oil Lamp	1880	$880
11	Bohemian Oil Lamp	1910	$788.16
12	Victorian Oil Lamp In Cranberry Diamond Pattern	1875	$444.37
13	Antique French Kerosene Oil Lamp	1880-1890	$350
14	1880 Antique Oil Lamp	1880	$225
15	Hand Blown Art Glass Oil Lamp	1970	$220
16	Antique Eagle Brand Hand Painted Milk Glass Oil Lamp	1800-1900	$125
17	Pyramid Base Antique Oil Lamp	1850-1899	$100.51
18	Walker & Hall Sheffield Antique Oil Lamp	1708	$100
19	Green Glass Fish Scale Font Oil Lamp	1890	$39.99

19. Green Glass FishScale Font Oil Lamp

Release Date: 1890

Price: $39.99

The unique color of this antique oil lamp is hard to ignore. A sharp green glass base with fish scale patterns houses the burner, and a long clear glass chimney protects the flame.

18. Walker & Hall Sheffield Antique Oil Lamp

Release Date: 1708

Price: $100

The unique antique oil lamp has a silver plate with a floral motif engraved on the body for extra details. The Walker & Hall, Sheffield, England name is inscribed boldly at the lamp’s base.

17. Pyramid Base Antique Oil Lamp

Release Date: 1850-1899

Price: $100.51

This antique oil lamp has a well-defined pyramid base which makes it unique. The base has a Scottish thistle, the prince of Wales feathers and English roses, and a screw-fit brass top with a vertically ribbed teal glass font with a screw-fit collar base.

Other details include a fixed duplex burner retaining wick and a plain round, bloated chimney that brings the item together.

16. Antique Eagle Brand Hand Painted Milk Glass Oil Lamp

Release Date: 1800-1900

Price: $125

This hand painted Victorian era oil lamp has a milk glass base painted by hand with floral designs and a light pink cast with a green trim right by the top of the base. There’s a clear glass chimney shade above the oil bowl.

15. Hand Blown Art Glass Oil Lamp

Release Date: 1970

Price: $220

This luster glass oil lamp was made in Germany around 1970 in shades of aqua green, cobalt, and web-like brown details. It has a frosted handle with a little transparent chimney at the top.

It’s 15.88 cm high, 13.34 cm wide, and 12.07 deep. The pattern illuminates the room as soon as the burner is lit.

14. 1880 Antique Oil Lamp

Release Date: 1880

Price: $225

This antique oil lamp was made in 1880 and is an amber-colored piece with clear glass and silver details around the oil bowl.

13. Antique French Kerosene Oil Lamp

Release Date: 1880-1890

Price: $350

Sticking to the proper French theme, this honey yellow glass original stamped antique oil lamp was produced from 1880 to 1890 and had a marble pedestal with a bronze base and honey-colored glass bowl revealing its beauty.

12. Victorian Oil Lamp In Cranberry Diamond Pattern

Release Date: 1875

Price: $444.37

This unique style of antique oil lamps is called the foot warmers or heat oil lamps. They’re also called cathedral oil lamps or church oil lamps. They’re very fancy, perfect for decorations, and had a large oil bowl with a wick that allowed for long burn and provided warmth for cold churches.

It was manufactured in Germany in 1875 and had a cranberry glass shade in the diamond pattern with a glass chimney and a 3.5-inch bulb that fits onto the lamp once the glass shade is installed. The lamp is a center draft oil lamp, which means it gets oxygen from the bowl with a center tube.

The oil bowl stands on embossed brass legs, and the burner is placed at the center with a flame spreader and a round wick controlled by a wick raiser knob outside.

11. Bohemian Oil Lamp

Release Date: 1910

Price: $788.16

Here, we have a French antique oil lamp from the Bohemian period made of Brass and Glass from the early 20^th century, specifically between 1900-1910. The oil lamp has cabochons on the shade above the burner in shades of green and silver details.

10. Antique Victorian Rare Messenger Duplex Patent Oil Lamp

Release Date: 1880

Price: $880

The lovely Victorian rare messenger duplex oil lamp has a brass column and cut glass font. The gorgeous pink shade is held with a long clear shade and can be handheld or rested on the wall depending on the owner’s preference.

9. 19^th Century Tibetan Oil Lamp

Release Date: 1900

Price: $1,275

This is a 19^th-century oil lamp made from bronze and a carefully handcrafted carving style. The nozzle and handle of this lamp have a Buddhist figure, possibly paying homage to the god.

The unique shape of this oil lamp sets it aside from others in its category and makes it highly collectible among antique oil lamp admirers.

8. Antique Victorian English Oil Lamp

Release Date: 1880

Price: $1,350

An elegant 19^th-century oil lamp made in 1880 with a clay base coated in black lacquer gloss, a brass stem placed on a brass stand, and a hand painted opalescent font with a French-inspired enamel style. The shade right beneath the neck glows in yellow under a black light.

The lamp has a brass duplex burner with two flat wicks, two wick wheels, an extinguisher lever, a ruffled top in the form of a flue, an acid bathed art glass shade with cranberry, frosted and clear coating with a unique clear glass top chimney.

If you have one of these, you would make a few bucks off its sale.

7. Victorian Molded Glass Oil Lamps

Release Date: 1900

Price: £2,500

The oil lamp was produced by James Hinks and Sons in the late 19^th Century and acquired from Julian Mynott in September 2010. Each lamp is marked with the Hinks & Son’s Patent.

6. Sukunda-Newari Culture Lamp

Release Date: 1600

Price: $4,032

This bronze oil lamp is valuable for spiritual reasons. According to the Newari culture, the lamp comes on at the start of cultural or religious festivals and is believed to provide physical light and spread positive energy to everyone.

The rare Sukunda oil lamp is a highly reserved ritual vessel from the Kathmandu Valley in the Himalayas, Nepal, which housed numerous serpent gods.

5. Aladdin Swan Oil Lamp

Release Date: 1800

Price: $4,200

One of the best antique oil lamps we’ve seen yet, this rich red stone and polished smooth swan is hand carved to be a replica of a Greco-Roman oil lamp that existed in the late 1800s.

The lamp has unique details like a swan’s body and its neck doubling as the handle, while the tail end of the lamp is a boar’s head, and it has a bearded Zeus masked lid.

At the base lies a serpent circling the swan’s feet. The oil lamp boasts exquisite craftsmanship, brilliant texture, and high quality.

4. Antique Astral Oil Lamp

Release Date: 1850-1899

Price: $4,250

The Original antique oil lamp was made in the USA and is highly prized due to its materials and unique style. The burner is in a clear shade with frosted floral details connecting each other.

3. Dresden Porcelain Antique Oil Lamp

Release Date: 1888-1901

Price: $5,150

The Art Nouveau lamp’s porcelain base is detailed in patterns of wild peony flowers and an array of wild roses on the other side. Depicting the perfect flower field scenery, the roses have whimsy bugs, bees, flies, and other hand painted insects between the sides of the base.

2. George IV Patinated and Gilt Bronze Oil Lamps

Release Date: 1825

Price: £6,250

This bronze beauty has twin branches, glass shades, and an urn oil bowl. The glass shades are supported by an Atlas figurine that stands boldly on a heavily ornamented pedestal, specifically with mask- heads.

A quadripartite plinth decorated with foliate scrolls and paterae serves as the base on which the pedestal which carries the atlas figure stands.

1. F & C Osler Cut Glass and Ormolu-Mounted Oil Lamp

Release Date: 1880

Price: £9,600

Taking the number one spot is this slender oil lap cut with diamond panels and flutes with an extravagant gilt-bronze stand. The stand has four faceted finials held by lions-paw-like feet and knife pleated silk lampshade.

It was made by the Osler company, which designed lamps for the high and mighty well into the early 20^th century.

Where to Get Antique Oil Lamps

Before proceeding into this section, we must reiterate that you need to decide what you intend to use for your antique oil lamp; this will help you focus on the features you need. You should check for colors, styles, and materials for decorative lamps.

If you intend to use your lamp after purchase, you should pay attention to the completeness of the parts and working conditions. Look out for parts like the wick, burner, and chimney.

Auctions

Head to the nearest auction to get a piece of antique oil lamps. They’re spread across the city and on the internet too. Verify the auction houses to prevent paying a lot for reproductions or illegitimate stuff.

check a few places we’ve found for you below

• barnebys
• liveauctioneers
• northcoastautionrooms

Flea Markets

Flea markets are one of the best places to purchase antique oil lamps. This is because a large majority of them have really old stuff in stock and are also of the utmost quality.

We must warn you that items at flea markets usually have flea bites, aging signs more than expected due to their old nature. This is usually nothing to worry about; so far, the oil lamp is complete.

Exhibitions

Art exhibitions are also great places to get antique oil lamps. It’s one of our preferred choices because you meet plenty of dealers with various oil lamps and rare ones.

Some exhibitions are held annually or bi-annually, which affords you much time to research the models you want, their styles, and their periods. So when the d-day comes, you immediately hit the ground running. Do well to check out the metmuseum.

Antique Stores

Like their names, antique stores sell only antique items. From dishes, dolls, and figurines to oil lamps, they have it in large numbers, which gives you a wide range of options to pick from and even spot reproductions using our brilliant identification guide. The sites below will lead you to some trusted antique stores where you can find authentic oil lamps.

• antiquesusamaine
• anitiquemallofamerica

Thrift Stores

If you’re a fan of unused antique stuff, thrift stores are not made for you because every item here is preowned. Therefore they’re very cheap, old and maybe a bit dented in some areas due to years of use.

One advantage thrift stores have is provenance. If you do your research properly, your antique lamp likely used to serve a famous household in the past, and now you have all that piece of history to yourself at little or no cost.

Parting Words

Way before the discovery of the great light bulb, these antique oil lamps delivered the task of illuminating dark spaces perfectly with just oil and matches.

In your search to procure antique oil lamps, there’re a few things you must bear in mind that’ll shape your decision process.

• The condition of your lamp directly affects the value, so keep them safe.
• Antique lamps come in unique colors; master them to spot reproduction.
• Double Checkyour auctioned antique lamps and ensure the auction house is reliable to prevent purchasing fake ones.
• Understand the type of antique oil lamp you’re about to get.