So What About The Bowl?



We found this lamp in one of the (now burned to ashes) sheds after we bought our old farm place. I know nothing about milk glass other than it comes in other colors besides white and sometimes has hobnails. Our lamp is wired for electric so I'm not going to go out on a limb and call it a rare, very old piece other than the previous owners of our farmhouse seemed to have been pack-rats collectors of American Stuff and I'm sure it's old. Just not Valuable Old- maybe 1950's.  I did find one exactly like it on ebay with an asking prices of $30.

Image via ebay

There is a tiny row of hobnail at the top of the shade but the lamp has the feel of a mass-produced item. There are no maker's marks on the lamp. There are no chips or cracks but I did- gasp- spray paint the brass because, well, it was rusty and ugly and I wanted to spray it. The lamp casts a nice soft light when turned on, especially with a 15-watt bulb. My husband is not a read in bed kind of guy (too bad for him) so we rarely turn it on.

I've never been particularly drawn to milk glass other than to know that it's different and sort of nice and seems like all of my older friends and family had it in their homes when I was growing up. So I thought it was for old people. Isn't that funny, because now my professional field is Gerontology....   But like I say, it was never anything special to me. Take or leave it. There is this photo, however....



Image via iNetGiant


Now that's a pretty lamp.



So the thing with our bowl lamp is, what about the bowl? It has been receptacle to the baseball that my husband caught off an Andy Van Slyke homer at a Pirates game years ago but other than that.... what? Does anyone know what is supposed to go in the bowl? I did see a photo once of one with plastic flowers in the bowl but plastic flowers aren't really my go-to decor choice. Our bedroom is currently decorated in Late Hodge-Podge: both of our childhood dressers (painted a matching field green), a treadle sewing machine that belonged to my husband's grandmother, complete with drawers of sewing notions and all the accessories, and the bed but no head board just a Chinese worker shirt hanging on the wall that my folks brought back for Big Un. It never fit him- the Chinese seamstress who was suppose to custom make the shirt for my husband refused to believe that any human actually had those measurements. Guess there aren't that many 6'6" Chinese folks with the wingspan of a Condor.

Any ideas or suggestions- seashells, ribbons, pine cones, Hershey's Kisses? Because since we think we have decided to stay here maybe two more years, I will soon be putting The Master Bedroom Master Plan into action.

Please, because Zippy is the only one who has come up with anything so far.