EDWARDIAN LIGHTING

The hugely popular ‘Downton Abbey’ TV series ran from 2010 to 2015. Viewers eagerly tuned in to watch the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their domestic servants unfold in Edwardian and post Edwardian Britain. This era also saw great advances in the world of lighting with the introduction of new electric lighting. Homes gradually moved away from oil lamps and gas lighting to embrace this new, cleaner electric light. However, at the time, not everyone was initially convinced by electric lighting. This wonderful quote from Downton Abbey’s Dowager Duchess, played so brilliantly by Dame Maggie Smith, shows there were some misgivings – ‘I couldn’t have electricity in the house. I wouldn’t sleep a wink. All those vapours floating about.’

PERIOD LIGHTING FOR VICTORIAN AND EDWARDIAN HOMES

This is the second in our series of blogs focusing on our individual lighting collections. Here we are showcasing our Period Lighting Collection which features reproduction lighting based on designs from the late Victorian and Edwardian eras. Electric lighting was still in its infancy when Queen Victoria died in 1901and throughout the Victorian era electricity remained very expensive. Gas lighting was common in our towns and cities and was supplemented by candles and oil lamps, whilst in smaller towns and villages lighting was almost exclusively by candles and oil lamps. It was not until the Edwardian period that we began to see wider availability of electricity and a gradual replacement of the gasoliers (gas light fittings) with new electric lights.