A vintage wall sconce is a wall light that borrows the shapes, materials and colours of earlier decades: a scrolled brass arm, a glass flower or tulip, a fluted sunburst, a fabric drum with piping, a glazed ceramic cup. The sconces in this guide are new fittings with a vintage look, not antiques, which means modern wiring and a choice of light colour. Below you will find the four vintage looks we sell, a table of real sizes in centimetres and inches taken from our product pages, and a short guide to choosing the right depth and number for a hallway or a bedroom. Browse them all in our vintage and mid-century lamps collection.
Vintage, antique or retro?
The three words are often mixed up. An antique is an original old fixture, usually wired for another era. Vintage is commonly used for pieces or looks from a past decade. Retro describes a new design that deliberately copies an older style, most often from the 1950s to the 1970s. Every sconce below is new and runs on a wide voltage range (85–260 V or 90–260 V according to the product page), so it suits both 120 V homes in the US and Canada and 230 V homes in the UK and Australia.
Four vintage looks and the sconces that carry them
1. Brass and glass flowers
The most romantic vintage look pairs a warm metal arm with a glass shade. The Vintage Brass Flower Wall Sconce has an ornate scrolled arm in an antique brass finish (on copper) and a choice of amber frosted flower, clear ribbed tulip or white frosted flower shade. The Ribbed Tulip Glass Wall Sconce sets a ribbed glass tulip on a slim brass-finish arm, in green, pink, milky white, amber or clear. For more on warm metals, read our guide to brass lamps and lights.
2. Sunburst and fluted glass
Radiating, pleated glass is a motif often linked with Art Deco. The Fluted Glass Sunburst Wall Sconce casts fine rays of light across the wall; its product page describes the amber version as a golden, vintage glow, with smoke grey and milky white as alternatives. Our glass wall sconce guide compares fluted, ribbed and crystal glass.
3. Mid-century fabric and wood
The Mid Century Fabric Drum Wall Sconce has a small tapered drum with contrast piping on a dark bronze-tone curved arm, in dark brown, orange-red, blue or light coffee. The Walnut & Hammered Copper Wall Sconce pairs two hammered shells with a walnut-tone wooden plate, and the Classic Fabric Wall Sconce keeps to a curved arm in brass or black under a white fabric shade. See also mid-century, Bauhaus and space age lamps.
4. 1970s colour and craft
The Pleated Glazed Ceramic Wall Sconce brings the glazed colours of the 1970s (olive green, rust orange, off-white, burgundy) in a black iron cradle. The Knitted Shade Wood Wall Sconce, a hand-knitted shade on turned solid wood, is described on its page as having vintage, rustic lines. Both materials are compared in ceramic and wood wall sconces.
Real sizes of our vintage-style wall sconces
All figures come from our product pages. Projection is how far the sconce stands out from the wall; the lighting area is the manufacturer's guide for one sconce on its own.
| Sconce | Look | Size | Projection | Light | Lighting area |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vintage Brass Flower | Brass and glass | H 25 cm (9.8 in), back plate 13 cm (5.1 in) | 25 cm (9.8 in) | Glass flower glows | 3–5 m² |
| Ribbed Tulip Glass | Brass and glass | Total H 42 cm (16.5 in), shade 12 cm (4.7 in) wide | Not stated | Whole tulip glows | Not stated |
| Fluted Glass Sunburst | Sunburst | Ø 24 × H 24 cm (9.4 × 9.4 in) | Not stated | Rays across the wall | 5–10 m² |
| Mid Century Fabric Drum | Mid-century | Not stated | Not stated | Fabric shade glows | 3–5 m² |
| Classic Fabric | Mid-century | Shade Ø 17 cm (6.7 in), H 23 cm (9.1 in) | 25 cm (9.8 in) | Up and down | 3–5 m² |
| Walnut & Hammered Copper | Mid-century | W 19.7 × H 50.5 cm (7.8 × 19.9 in) | 15.4 cm (6.1 in) | Up and down | 5–10 m² |
| Pleated Glazed Ceramic | 1970s colour | W 25 × H 27 cm (9.8 × 10.6 in); burgundy Ø 35 × H 38.5 cm (13.8 × 15.2 in) | 13 cm (5.1 in) | Up only | 5–10 m² |
| Knitted Shade Wood | Craft | H 38 cm (15 in), W 15 cm (5.9 in) at base | Not stated | Glow through the knit | 3–5 m² |
Mini-guide: how deep and how many
Depth in a narrow hallway. A common benchmark for a walkway is a projection of about 10 cm (4 in), the figure used by the US ADA standards for public corridors (see what is a sconce). None of the vintage sconces with a stated projection is that shallow: the ceramic sconce stands out 13 cm, the walnut sconce 15.4 cm, the brass flower and classic fabric sconces 25 cm. In a corridor under about 100 cm wide, place them on the end wall or above a console rather than along the walkway.
Number for a 10 m² hallway. Divide the area by the lighting area of one sconce: with the Fluted Glass Sunburst (5–10 m² each), 1 to 2 sconces; with the Vintage Brass Flower (3–5 m² each), 2 to 4. Our hallway and entryway lighting ideas give the spacing.
A pair for a 12 m² bedroom. Two Knitted Shade Wood sconces either side of the bed cover 6–10 m², so keep a ceiling light for the rest of the room. Mounting height is covered in bedside sconce height.
Light colour. A vintage look reads best in warm white. The brass flower, knitted and mid-century sconces offer 3000K, and the ceramic sconce 2700–3500K. Our guide warm white vs cool white explains the numbers.
Planning the living room? Our guide to wall sconces for the living room covers placement and height beside a fireplace, a sofa or an armchair. For fringed and stained-glass pieces from an earlier era, see Victorian lamps.
Two related guides: colored glass lighting sorts our green, amber, pink and blue glass lights by colour, and mid-century wall sconces covers drum, sunburst, tulip and glazed ceramic designs, both with real sizes.
Frequently asked questions
Are your vintage wall sconces real antiques?
No. They are new wall lights with a vintage design. Materials, finishes and sizes are listed on each product page, for example an antique brass finish on copper for the Vintage Brass Flower Wall Sconce.
Which vintage sconce works best beside a bed?
A sconce with an arm brings the light closer to the pillow: the Vintage Brass Flower and the Classic Fabric both project 25 cm (9.8 in). The Knitted Shade Wood product page notes that a pair either side of a bed replaces two bedside lamps.
Can I use these sconces in a US or UK home?
Yes. The product pages list 85–260 V or 90–260 V, which covers 120 V and 230 V mains. Some, such as the Knitted Shade Wood and the Fluted Glass Sunburst, are hardwired, so have them installed by a qualified electrician.
See all our wall lights, our glass wall sconces and the full vintage and mid-century lamps collection.
