Most antique oil lamps are worth about $20-80 as of late 2026. The clear glass kerosene stand lamps and finger lamps that turn up in barns, attics and estate sales were made by the million between about 1860 and 1930, and a complete example with its burner and chimney usually sells in that range. Aladdin mantle lamps are a collecting world of their own: the common clear glass Washington Drape with a Model B burner brings roughly $60-70, colored glass and scarce Aladdin models run $150-600, and the rarest glass Aladdins have set records above $14,000. Ornate painted parlor lamps, the kind people call "Gone with the Wind" lamps, sell for about $200-600 when they are genuine 19th century pieces, while the electrified copies made from the 1950s to the 1970s usually bring $50-200.
The burner, the glass and the originality of the parts decide the price. A lamp that has been drilled and wired for electricity, fitted with a modern chimney or married to a shade from another lamp loses much of its collector value, even when it still looks handsome on a table.
Quick answer
- Common clear kerosene stand, sewing and finger lamps, complete: about $20-80.
- Aladdin mantle lamps: clear glass Washington Drape about $60-70, colored glass and scarce models $150-600, rare glass to five figures.
- Original 19th century painted parlor (Gone with the Wind) lamps: about $200-600, exceptional examples more.
- Electrified reproductions from the 1950s to 1970s: about $50-200. Hanging library lamps with prisms: roughly $300-1,500.
How to identify and value an oil lamp, step by step
- Lift off the chimney and read the burner. The brass burner screwed into the top of the glass font is the single most informative part. Most are stamped on the thumbwheel or the collar with a maker and patent date: P&A Eagle, Scovill, Plume and Atwood, Miller, Bradley and Hubbard. Aladdin burners are stamped with the model, from the Model 1 of 1909 to the Model 23 of today. A patent date is the earliest the burner could have been made, not the year of the lamp.
- Check whether it burns oil or uses a bulb. An original oil lamp has an open font for fuel, a wick and a wick-raising knob. Look underneath. A cord coming out of the base, a hole drilled in the glass or a socket where the burner should be means the lamp has been electrified, or was made electric from the start.
- Look at the glass font and base. Pressed pattern glass, colored glass, milk glass and opalescent glass bring more than plain clear glass. A font with a pattern name you can match in a reference, such as Bullseye, Coolidge Drape or Ripley, places the lamp in time. Mold seams that run all the way to the top of the font point to later machine production.
- Identify Aladdin by name and shape. Aladdin lamps have a round mantle burner and a tall chimney, and the burner gallery is stamped Aladdin with the model. The glass base patterns have collector names: Washington Drape, Lincoln Drape, Corinthian, Beehive, Majestic, Cathedral, Vertique. Alacite, a creamy opaque glass, and colors such as ruby, green and amber are where the money is.
- For a parlor lamp, read the decoration. A genuine 19th century parlor lamp has a hand painted or transfer decorated font and a matching ball shade, a cast metal base and a brass burner, often a large central draft burner such as a Rochester or a Juno. Painting should look like brushwork with small irregularities, not a flat decal.
- Check that the shade and font belong together. Matching painted shades and fonts were sold as sets, and a married pair, where a shade from one lamp sits on another, sells for less. Compare the color, the painted subject and the size of the fitting.
- Inspect for damage. Chips on the font collar, cracks in the glass, a broken or missing shade ring, a replaced chimney and corrosion inside the burner all deduct. A dented or soldered burner can be replaced, which is cheap; a cracked font cannot.
What antique oil lamps sell for
Values are for complete lamps with an original-type burner and a chimney or shade as of late 2026.
| Lamp | Era | Typical value |
|---|---|---|
| Plain clear glass finger or hand lamp | 1870s to 1920s | $20-50 |
| Clear pressed glass stand lamp, common pattern | 1870s to 1920s | $30-80 |
| Colored, milk or opalescent glass stand lamp | 1880s to 1910s | $80-300 |
| Miniature (night) lamp, common | 1880s to 1910s | $50-150 |
| Miniature lamp, painted or scarce pattern | 1880s to 1910s | $150-500+ |
| Aladdin Washington Drape, clear, Model B burner | 1940s | $60-70 |
| Aladdin brass table lamp, Model 6 to 12, complete | 1910s to 1930s | $60-200 |
| Aladdin colored glass or Alacite base | 1930s to 1950s | $150-600 |
| Rare Aladdin glass (Opalique, scarce colors) | 1930s | $1,000 to five figures |
| Original painted parlor lamp, matching shade | 1880s to 1900s | $200-600 |
| Exceptional parlor lamp, fine painting, original burner | 1880s to 1900s | $800-2,000+ |
| Electrified Gone with the Wind reproduction | 1950s to 1970s | $50-200 |
| Hanging library lamp with prisms, original | 1880s to 1900s | $300-1,500 |
| Modern decorative oil lamp | 1980s onward | $10-40 |
The Aladdin record shows how wide the range is within one maker. A clear Washington Drape from the 1940s is one of the most common lamps in American houses and sells for about $60-70, according to collector guides and sold listings. At Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates, a clear Opalique short Lincoln Drape lamp sold for $14,040, a record for a glass Aladdin. Both carry the same name on the burner; the glass decides the price.
Condition and what changes the price
| Factor | Effect |
|---|---|
| Original burner, wick, chimney or shade, unwired | The baseline for the prices above |
| Electrified by drilling the base or font | Deduction of about 40-70 percent for a collector lamp |
| Burner replaced with a correct period burner | Small deduction, often accepted |
| Modern chimney | Small deduction; chimneys were always replaced |
| Shade from a different lamp (married) | Deduction of about 30-50 percent on a parlor lamp |
| Chip on the font collar or base | Deduction of about 20-40 percent |
| Crack in the font | Deduction of 50 percent or more; a cracked font is unsafe to burn |
| Painted decoration worn or touched up | Deduction of about 30-50 percent |
| Colored or rare pattern glass | Two to ten times the clear version |
| Original box (Aladdin) or documented history | Modest premium |
Electrification is the most common problem. Many lamps were wired in the 1930s to 1960s so they could stay in use, and a lamp drilled through the glass is now a decorative lamp. It still sells, often for $40-150, but to a decorator rather than a collector.
Common mistakes
- Calling every painted ball shade lamp a Gone with the Wind original. The name came after the 1939 film, and most of the lamps carrying it were made as electric reproductions in the 1950s to 1970s. Decals, a built-in socket and no fuel font give them away.
- Reading the patent date as the date of the lamp. A burner stamped "Pat. 1876" was often made decades later, because makers kept the date on their stamps.
- Burning an old lamp with a cracked font. Kerosene leaks through cracks. Test old lamps with water first, never with fuel.
- Throwing away the burner. On a common lamp, the burner can be most of the value, and Aladdin burners and parts sell on their own.
- Pricing from asking listings. Online listings for common kerosene lamps at $150-300 sit for months. Sold results are the honest guide.
- Polishing a painted shade or font with abrasives. Hand painted and transfer decoration rubs off. Clean with a soft damp cloth only.
How WorthPic reads oil lamp photos
WorthPic runs on the newest and most capable AI model available, tuned for exactly this kind of identification. From a clear photo of the whole lamp it reads the shape of the font and base, the glass color and pattern, whether the lamp is a finger lamp, stand lamp, Aladdin, miniature, parlor or hanging lamp, and whether there is a cord or socket that means it has been electrified. From a close photo of the burner it reads the maker and patent stamps and, on an Aladdin, the model number. On a parlor lamp it looks at the decoration for signs of brushwork versus decals and checks whether the shade and font appear to match. It then gives an honest value range for what the photos show. What it cannot know is whether there is a hairline crack hidden under the collar, whether a burner was swapped from another lamp of the same era, or whether old paint has been restored, and it says so. It identifies and estimates. It does not authenticate, grade or appraise for insurance.
What to photograph
- The whole lamp from the side in daylight, with chimney or shade in place.
- The lamp without its chimney or shade, so the font and burner are visible.
- The burner close up, including the thumbwheel and any stamped name or patent date.
- The underside of the base, to show any cord hole, felt, maker marks or pontil.
- The shade close up, inside and out, to show painting, fitting ring and any chips.
- Any chip, crack or repair in its own photo.
When to get it looked at in person
A plain clear glass kerosene lamp is a $20-80 item and does not need an expert; a sold-listing search with the burner type and pattern noted does the job. The lamps worth a second opinion are colored or Alacite Aladdins, unusual Aladdin glass, painted parlor lamps that look genuinely 19th century, hanging library lamps with complete prisms and early lamps made for whale oil or camphene before kerosene arrived. For those, a lighting specialist auction house such as Jeffrey S. Evans, or the Aladdin Knights collector group for Aladdin lamps, will place them far more precisely than a general dealer. Lamps often come out of the same houses as clocks and furniture, and our guides to antique clocks and antique furniture identification cover those. If your lamp has milk glass or carnival glass parts, our guides to milk glass and carnival glass help with the glass itself.