The moonstone designation denotes the way the glass appears to glow like the light of the moon, and the name Vertique refers to the vertical ridges of the bowl. There are a couple of unique qualities to these Aladdin lamps. One is the intense glow the yellow Vertique displays under a black light. The amazing glow is due to the use of uranium as a coloring agent in the glass formula. See it "Glow"
Another more controversial characteristic of the Aladdin Vertique lamps is that some have been found with what appears to be a foot from the Aladdin "Quilt" lamp. While quite similar in their design, there is a small difference between the foot of the Vertique and that of the Quilt. The Vertique foot has a smooth 1/4 inch ring of smooth glass running around the outer edge of the diamond pattern design. On the Quilt foot there is no 1/4 inch ring. Vertique lamps that are found with the Quilt foot design are often suspected, by collectors, to be Vertique lamps that have been damaged and have had the original Vertique foot replaced with one from a Quilt lamp.
This idea, however, was disproved when a yellow Vertique lamp was discovered with a foot identical to those used on the Quilt lamps. Since the Aladdin Quilt lamps were never produced in yellow moonstone, this could only mean that a Quilt foot mold had been used to manufacture the foot found on some of the Vertique lamps. The suspicions of the collectors were finally put to rest, with the realization that Vertique lamps were actually produced with two differently designed feet from the factory. See the proof!
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No, it's not pink, it's an Aladdin "rose" moonstone Vertique lamp.
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Aladdin yellow moonstone Vertique lamp, and yes, it glows green under a blacklight.
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Aladdin green moonstone Vertique lamp.
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Aladdin white moonstone Vertique lamp.
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This green moonstone Vertique Aladdin lamp is an oddity. Only a very small number of Vertiques have been found with a raised rib design on the font. The yellow dots in the photos denote the location of a vertical rib that is slightly more raised than those adjacent to it. It is not a deformity caused by the mold, or a deformity caused when the glass was removed from the mold. There is a specific pattern to the raised rib design.
There are three locations on the font that each have a group of three consecutive raised ribs. The clusters of three raised ribs in a row line up with the two mold marks on the top of the font, and with the oil fill. Between each of the clusters of three are single raised ribs that are evenly spaced (I believe every fifth rib) between them. There is no doubt because of the symmetry of the spacing for each raised rib, that they were intentionally configured to create a pattern, or design.
Why? Well they might have been a developmental design (prototype) that didn't work well, but in truth nobody will ever know. The design has only been found in a few lamps so far, and at this time, only in the green and yellow moonstone lamps.
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The yellowish green glow of the yellow Vertique under a black light is almost eerie in its intensity! While this picture can give you an idea of the color of the glow, the intensity has to be seen in person to be truly appreciated. Not only does the lamp glow brightly in the eerie yellow green color, it also appears to change texture from smooth glass to looking more like it is molded from tightly packed sand!
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On this Vertique there is no 1/4 inch band of smooth glass extending out from the diamond pattern. The foot is identical to that of the Aladdin Quilt lamps, but since the Quilt lamps were never made in yellow moonstone, this foot had to be molded specifically for a Vertique lamp! The same mold could just as easily been used to mold Vertique feet in any of the four colors. This proves that at least two different molds were used to produce the Vertique foot--one with the 1/4 inch ring of smooth glass and one without!!
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Note the 1/4 inch band of smooth glass next to the diamond pattern on this Vertique foot. This was always thought to be the "true" Vertique foot and if the foot did not have this 1/4 inch band it was a Quilt foot that had been used to repair the lamp. That theory was only disproved when the Quilt foot design was also discovered to have been made in yellow moonstone.
