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Art Deco Lighting: A Style Guide

What is Art Deco lighting?

Art Deco lighting is defined by strong geometry, symmetry and a sense of glamour. Look for stepped and tiered forms, fan and sunburst shapes, bold lines, and materials like brass, chrome and opal or crystal glass. The style came out of the 1920s and 1930s and still reads as confident and considered rather than fussy. At its best it pairs a shaped glass shade with a solid-brass fitting, so the fitting is as much a part of the look as the glass.

Below is how to recognise it, where it suits, and the pieces in our range worth knowing.

How to recognise Art Deco lighting

Art Deco opal glass pendant lights on cloth cord in polished brass, hung over a bar

A few features give it away:

  • Geometry over ornament. Clean, repeating shapes, steps, tiers, fans and sunbursts, rather than the flowing, floral detail of Victorian or Federation pieces.
  • Symmetry. Deco design is balanced and deliberate. Fittings often mirror themselves left to right.
  • Shaped glass on a solid fitting. Opal or crystal glass, cut or moulded into stepped and faceted forms, carried on a brass rod set, chain or gallery.
  • A sense of occasion. Deco lighting is made to be noticed. Even a single pendant carries some drama.

Where Art Deco lighting suits

Art Deco works in more than just period apartments. It suits a restored 1930s home, of course, but the strong lines also sit well in a contemporary space that wants a point of focus. A tiered pendant in an entry or hallway, a chandelier over a dining table, or a shaped opal shade in a bathroom or bar, each adds character without tipping into pastiche.

Finish sets the mood. Polished brass reads warm and classic, patina is darker and moodier, and chrome gives a cleaner, sharper deco look. The same glass shade can swing quite modern or quite traditional depending on the fitting it sits on.

Art Deco lighting in our range

Our strength in Art Deco is the glass. We carry a growing range of opal and crystal deco shades, built onto solid-brass rod sets, chains, cloth cords and galleries, so the fitting and the shade read as one piece. Here is how it breaks down.

Opal glass shades on solid-brass rod sets and chains

St Helens Art Deco opal glass pendant on a solid-brass rod set in a living room

This is the heart of the range. Shades like St Helens, Elwood, Detroit and Beehive take the stepped, faceted forms of deco and work them in opal glass, then hang them from solid-brass rod sets, chains or a cloth cord. The rod sets are solid brass across every finish, polished brass, or plated in patina or chrome, so they hold up over time rather than just looking the part. Each shade comes in all three finishes, so you can match the suspension to the room, and the shades suit a hallway, kitchen, entry or over a bench. Because the shade and the suspension are sold as one considered fitting, you get the full deco look rather than a shade on a generic cord.

Tiered crystal and glass chandeliers

Odeon crystal glass Art Deco chandelier in bronze over a dining table

For a centrepiece, our Odeon crystal glass chandelier stacks tiers of cut crystal into a bronze frame, so it catches the light the way deco glass is meant to. Our Celestial range works the same tiered geometry in crystal glass across several chandelier sizes plus a two-light wall bracket, in satin brass, chrome or black. Both suit a dining table, stairwell or entry with the ceiling height to carry them.

Wall lights and sconces

Bentleigh Art Deco wall light with opal glass Detroit shade in patina, in a monochrome bathroom

Deco loves a pair, which makes wall lights a natural fit. Our fan-shaped wall sconce is about as deco as a wall light gets, geometric, symmetrical and made to flank a mirror, bed or fireplace, in polished brass, chrome or patina black. The Bentleigh wall bracket pairs a solid-brass arm in patina with an opal gloss Detroit shade, and the Nova wall bracket gives a simpler opal-glass option in brass, chrome or nickel finishes.

Choosing Art Deco lighting for your home

A few things to weigh up:

  • Finish sets the mood. Polished brass for warm and classic, patina for moody, chrome for sharp and modern.
  • Use symmetry. Deco loves a pair. Matched wall sconces frame a mirror or bed, and a run of matching pendants suits a bench or long hallway.
  • Match the scale to the room. A tiered chandelier needs ceiling height and space; a single opal pendant or a sconce suits tighter rooms and lower ceilings.
  • Let the glass be the feature. A deco piece is meant to be seen, so give it room to sit as the focus rather than competing with other strong elements.

For more on getting the details right, see our guide to light fitting finishes, and if you are choosing for outdoors, our outdoor lighting buying guide and IP ratings guide.