The Aladdin Queen lamps share the characteristic of having a moonstone font and a metal base with the Aladdin Majestic lamps. The finish on the metal bases for both groups is quite delicate in nature, a fact that seems to plague a majority of the metal lamps. Many of the these lamps when discovered have very little of their original finish left intact. Collectors sometimes have them re-plated, or may paint the metal base. Finding one with a good original finish can be challenging.
There are four lamps that comprise the Queen family. The Moonstone glass fonts were offered in three colors: green, rose, and white. The green and rose moonstone lamps were offered only with a silver plated base, while the white moonstone was offered with either the silver or bronze finish. The bronze finish also included the model-B burner.
Click image to zoom in
Aladdin white moonstone Queen lamp with bronze finish.
Click image to zoom in
Aladdin white moonstone Queen lamp with silver finish.
Click image to zoom in
Aladdin green moonstone Queen lamp with silver finish. The shade is an original Aladdin "fluted" shade and the metal piece on the top of the chimney is an insect screen.
Click image to zoom in
Aladdin rose moonstone Queen with silver finish.
Click image to zoom in
Click image to zoom in
Click image to zoom in
Okay, so Aladdin never made ball shades for their lamps, but it does go with the lamp pretty well. Don't ever try lighting an Aladdin lamp with a ball shade like this one, however, because they won't stand up to the heat that is generated by an Aladdin burner. They do look nice on some of the lamps, but only for decorative purposes.
The shade appears more white in these pictures which is due to the harsh light at the time the picture was taken.
The photo below shows more of its true pink color.
Click image to zoom in
Just for something different I had this lamp re-plated in a nickel finish instead of silver. It is far too shiny to resemble the original silver finish for the lamp, but it is a real attention grabber in the display cabinet.
The foot on this lamp is perfect; the bright nickel finish just reflects so badly that the detail is lost in the photo.
For the sake of comparison, the green moonstone Queen in the photo below has about 80 to 90 percent of the original silver finish intact, while the rose moonstone lamp on the right has been re-plated. The original finish has a more gold hue to it when compared to the lamp that has been re-plated. If you go to the larger view, the difference is much more apparent.
The green moonstone lamp on the left was found with the base painted gold. The paint was removed to reveal almost 100% of the original finish still intact! Amazingly it is the best example of the original silver finish I have found on a Queen to this day!
The original finish on the lamp base to the left shows a golden hue when compared to the re-plated base on the right. It also has more of a shine to it, while the re-plated lamp displays a softer more satin like appearance. While re-plating the base on both the Queen and Majestic lamps is an accepted practice, and can actually enhance their value, it is not an exact replication of the original finish. The sad fact is that the original finish was not of such quality to allow it to stand up to the test of time.
Note the scalloped edge around the top of the green moonstone Queen. Some of the Queens have this scallop design, and some have just a straight band without the scallop, as seen in the photo of the white moonstone Queen. The two different designs are found in all three font colors. The fonts without the scallop design do have the unique characteristic of being slightly taller than those with the scallop. That difference, as well as the scallop design itself, helps support the fact that at least two different molds were used in producing the Aladdin Queen lamps. However, neither design seems to be favored over the other by collectors. Therefore whether the lamp has the scallop design, or the plain design, is not relevant in determining its collector value. Some collectors do, however, try to acquire complete sets of both styles.
