I LOVE, Love, love Coloured Glass

I found this pretty little hobnail hurricane lamp while I was shopping for my daughter's present.  I found her a lovely lamp, in fully useable condition and very pretty.  Hiding in a corner was this little hobnail lamp.  It's a good bit smaller than most of my other hurricane lamps but I'd never seen that hobnail pattern on the base before.  I thought it would hold just a little bit of kerosene, but the whole base is hollow, so it holds almost a full bottle.  It's fully functional as well, but not as pretty as the restored one I bought my daughter.  However, this one was a whole $14, so I couldn't leave it at the shop.  Cheap and in great condition and did I mention really cheap?  Yep, it had to come home with me.  I ended up using it for a few minutes on the morning of the ice storm, when it was early morning and still dark outside.

I found this ruby red beauty under our Christmas tree and I know it was a very good price too.  I'm pretty sure it's not an original, although it's obviously been well used.  There was another couple of similar red lamps that day, but neither with the milk glass shade and one was the same price and the other 3 times as much, so it was a no-brainer for this one to come home with us as well.  However, it had to sit in a box in my closet for well over a month.  I won't tell you how hard I had to work at forgetting it was there.  Regardless of whether it is an original or just an older reproduction, it's really well made and probably the only way I'd be able to afford a coloured glass hurricane lamp.  Most of the one's I fall in love with, the cobalt, greens, purples or reds, all cost in the $200 - $400, plus range. 

But sometimes cobalt glass shows up unexpectedly.  Two cobalt glass tumblers with a grape and vine pattern were a huge surprise.  I'd seen these, loved them but couldn't justify purchasing  the red lamp, the cobalt blue tumblers and the matching blue glass pitcher.   My sweetie snuck back to the shop at a later date and while the matching pitcher had already been sold, the two tumblers were still there.   Very pretty and since the little purple pressed glass bottle I'd been eyeing had been sold, right under my nose, these were a lovely surprise.   I'm hoping they're not horribly old because I am using them regularly every once in a while.