A Banker’s Lamp Is The Soothing Touch Your Home Office Needs

You’ve seen it before. Perhaps casting light on a handwritten contract in an old movie or placed atop your grandfather’s mahogany desk. Distinguishable by its emerald green glass shade, brass base, and chain switch, a banker’s lamp is the old real way to illuminate the study of an old-world gentle(wo)man (aided by a roaring fire, of course).

While you’re unlikely to find banker’s lamps in the monastically minimalist offices of start-ups today, look around and you’ll see its understated yet impactful design has left its mark. To this day, several libraries around the world — including the Boston Public Library, National Library of France, and State Library of Victoria — as well as many a courtroom are illuminated by banker’s lamps or fixed green lampshades inspired by the original design.

Antithetical to the slender Flos lamps that seem to have a chokehold over the design community, the humble banker’s lamp boasts a sense of design purity with its gentle curvilinear lines. Simple in its design and construction, the traditional banker’s lamp comprises a brass base topped with a green glass cased lampshade with a white interior. Notably, the lampshades were always devoid of rectilinear lines, instead opting for smooth forms and rounded edges.

History of the banker’s lamp

The banker’s lamp — also dubbed the ‘Churchill lamp’ or ‘Washington lamp’ — came into being in 1909 thanks to New York engineer Harrison D. McFaddin, whose patent application stated his intentions to create “a new, original and ornamental design for lamp shades.” McFaddin began to manufacture the lamps through his father’s homewares company, H.G. McFaddin & Co., and named his design Emeralite; a portmanteau of the words ’emerald’ and ‘light’.

It swiftly garnered popularity — by the 1960s, several competing companies followed suit and began manufacturing and marketing ‘Greenalite’, ‘Verdelite’, and ‘Amronlite’ lamps. However, the original Emeralite lamp is still considered the best example of a banker’s lamp. Today, authentic Emeralite lamps are no longer in production, but several furniture and design stores create their own interpretations (along with some inevitable imitations) of the banker’s lamp.

Why are banker’s lamps green?

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The banker’s lamp is a supporting actor.

An early example of colour theory, McFaddin selected the verdant hue for its calming properties, with Emeralite lamps marketed as being “easy on the eyes.” This is something attested to as early as the 7th century by scholar and theologist Isidore of Seville in his posthumous Etymologies. “Architects use green Carystean marble to panel libraries, because the green refreshes weary eyes,” he notes.

The illumination provided by a banker’s lamp is soft and radiates a relatively small distance from the base of the lamp, which was thought to encourage focus and concentration. The lamps became a white collar staple, found on the desks of bankers, notaries, accountants, lawyers, and courtroom workers.

Both timeless and rooted in their time, a banker’s lamp is the ideal addition to any desk. Naturally, it’s an apt fit for proponents of vintage style, however, a banker’s lamp can also add a touch of warmth and personality to an otherwise homogenous workspace.