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Museum object · Furnishings, Housewares, and Décor

Lamp base from Mae's Millinery Shop

1941-1994

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, North and Central America

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Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

A metal lamp base with a painted porcelain decoration of an English maiden. The lamp base is oval in shape with a brass finish and a tiered decorative design. The base stands on four feet. A metal stem protrudes upward from the back of the base and bends slightly at the top so that the bulb mechanism is above the head of the porcelain figure. The figure depicts the bust of a brunette woman wearing a blue gown, a pink flower at her neck, and a black hat with an orange flower. She is looking slightly downward to the proper left. A brown electric cord with a two-pronged plug runs out from the center back of the base. The underside of the base has the text "4 F" engraved into it.

Sources & collection details

Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture — original record ↗

Source collection ↗

Catalog metadata · CC0 · Source checked 2026-10-13

Catalog reference: 2010.6.21

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