Every design in our core range is available as a shade on its own, in the same two sizes as the lamps: 25.4 cm and 40.6 cm. That lets you replace a damaged shade, change the colour of a lamp you already own, or fit stained glass to a base or ceiling fitting you have. The only thing to get right is how the shade attaches.
How a Tiffany shade attaches
Table and floor lamp shades have a metal fitter ring soldered into the top opening. The ring sits over the lamp's spider (the three-armed bracket above the bulb) and is held down by the finial. Ceiling and pendant shades use the same ring, hung from a matching ceiling fitting. Because the ring is part of the shade, the question is whether the ring diameter matches your base.
Which shade fits which base
| Shade | Fitter | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| 25.4 cm shade | Standard small fitter | Our 25 cm table lamp bases; most third-party bases sold for a 10 inch Tiffany shade |
| 40.6 cm shade | Standard large fitter | Our 40 cm table lamp bases and floor lamp bases; third-party bases sold for a 16 inch Tiffany shade |
Our own bases and shades are interchangeable within a size, so a Sapphire Dragonfly 40 cm shade will sit on a Cream and Amber Mission 40 cm base. Across sizes they are not: a 25 cm shade on a 40 cm base is undersized and the ring will not seat.
Measuring a lamp you already own
- Remove the finial and lift the old shade off.
- Measure the inside diameter of the fitter ring in the old shade, or the outside diameter of the spider on the base if the shade is gone.
- Measure the old shade across its widest point. If it is 25 to 26 cm you need the small shade; 40 to 41 cm the large.
- Check the height of the spider above the bulb. The shade should sit so the bulb is roughly centred in it; if the bulb sits too low the top of the shade will be dark, and a base with an adjustable riser will fix that.
If your base is not one of ours, send us the two measurements before ordering and we will tell you whether the ring will seat.
25 CM SHADE
40 CM SHADE
Changing the colour of a lamp
A second shade is the cheapest way to have two lamps. A 40 cm base with an amber shade for winter and a sapphire shade for summer costs less than two lamps and stores in a single box. Swapping takes a minute: unscrew the finial, lift, replace, tighten.
Using a shade on a ceiling fitting
Our ceiling and pendant lights are supplied complete, but the shades from them are the same shades, so a spare pendant shade will hang from any of our pendant fittings of the same size. On a third-party ceiling fitting, check the fitter diameter as above and that the fitting is rated for the shade's weight; a 40 cm stained glass shade is heavier than most fabric shades of the same size.
Bulb clearance: with a new shade, check that the bulb does not touch the glass. Our 7 W filament bulb is 10.5 cm tall and 6 cm wide and clears every shade in the range on our own bases.
