{{Short description|American lamp maker (1885–1936)}} {{Infobox company | name = Handel Company | logo = | type = | genre = | fate = | predecessor = | successor = | foundation = {{start date|1885}} | founder = | defunct = {{end date|1936}} | location_city = Meriden, Connecticut | location_country = United States | location = | locations = | area_served = Predominantly the United States | key_people = P.J. Handel | industry = | products = lamps, glass objects | services = | market cap = | revenue = | operating_income = | net_income = | aum = | assets = | equity = | owner = | num_employees = | parent = | divisions = | subsid = | homepage = | footnotes = | intl = }}
[[File:Lamp MET 176293.jpg|thumb|Handel Company lamp design (1900–1930) at the Metropolitan Museum of Art<ref name=":0">(undated). [https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/4709 Webpage for Handel Company Lamp, 1900–1930]. Metropolitan Museum of New York. Retrieved May 12, 2019.</ref>]]
The '''Handel Company''', or '''P. J. Handel Company''', was a manufacturer of lamps and decorated glassware in Meriden, Connecticut. Adolph Eydam and Philip Handel formed the '''Eydam and Handel Company''' in 1885 and employed local artists in their factory.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Piccirillo |first=Justin |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Art_and_Artisans_of_Meriden/c3qVEQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PT53&printsec=frontcover |title=Art and Artisans of Meriden |date=2023-03-20 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |isbn=978-1-4396-7746-9 |language=en |chapter=The Handel Lamp Company}}</ref> Handel bought out Eydam in 1892 or 1893.<ref name=":1" /> The company closed in 1936.<ref name=":1" />
== History == The Handel Company was incorporated in 1903. As of about 1911, P. J. Handel was president and treasurer of the business. In ''Meriden Illustrated'' (1911): "[The company has] obtained [a] national reputation for the artistic and the high quality of their product. A number of patents are controlled which makes their business a very successful one. There is a force of 125 people skilled in the various branches and steadily engaged."<ref name=":2" />
The Handel Company maintained a showroom in New York City<ref name=":1" /> at the corner of West Broadway and Murray St. with dedicated sales agents for the entire United States. The production location was in Meriden on East Main Street, just east of Broad Street.<ref name=":2">(c. 1911). [http://cdm15019.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p4005coll11/id/465/rec/1 ''"Meriden Illustrated"''], (p. 22). William S. Kline & Company: Kinderhook, NY. Retrieved December 18, 2016.</ref> In 1914, Philip J. Handel died, after which his wife Fannie took over operations.
Some of Handel's work was similar to Tiffany lamps, which were popular at the time.<ref name=":0" />
== Books and collections == Over the years, the following books have focused on the designs of Handel lamps: Joanne Grant's ''The painted lamps of Handel'' (c. 1978);<ref>Grant, Joanne. (c. 1978). ''The painted lamps of Handel''. New Windsor, New York; 98 pp.</ref> De Falco, Hibel & Hibel's ''Handel lamps: Painted shades and glassware'' (1986);<ref>De Falco, Robert; Goldman Hibel, Carole; & Hibel, John. (1986). Handel lamps: Painted shades and glassware. 254 pp. H&D Press: Staten Island, NY.</ref> Carole Hibel's ''The Handel lamps book'' (1999);<ref>Hibel, Carole Goldman. (1999). ''The Handel lamps book''. 260 pp.</ref> and Robert DeFalco's ''Metal overlays by Handel'' (c. 2000).<ref>DeFalco, Robert. (c. 2000). ''Metal overlays by Handel''. 108 pp. New York</ref> Handel Company lamps were also included in Martin May's ''Great art glass lamps: Tiffany, Duffner & Kimberly, Pairpoint, and Handel''.<ref>May, Martin M. (c. 2003). ''Great art glass lamps: Tiffany, Duffner & Kimberly, Pairpoint, and Handel''. 239 pp. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Pub. Ltd.</ref>
As of 2016, lamp designs by the Handel Company are in the following museum collections: Brooklyn Museum; Corning Museum of Glass; Museum of American Glass in Millville, NJ; Tucson Museum of Art; and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.<ref>(2016). [https://www.artdesigncafe.com/handel-company-lamps "Handel & Company designs in collections and at auction"]. ''artdesigncafe''. Retrieved December 18, 2016.</ref> Over the years, Handel lamps have been exhibited in the 1889 Delavan Opera House exposition in Meriden and the 1915 Industrial art exhibition at the National Museum (Smithsonian) in Washington, DC.<ref>(March 14, 2016). [https://www.artdesigncafe.com/handel-company-lamps Handel Company design catalogues & historical information]. ''artdesigncafe''. Retrieved May 12, 2019.</ref> Handel lamps have been shown and assessed on the ''Antiques Roadshow'' TV program.<ref>(undated). [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/appraisals/handel-lamp-with-reverse-painted-shade-ca-1900/ Handel Lamp with Reverse Painted Shade, ca. 1900]. ''Antiques Roadshow'' (June 26, 2010). Retrieved May 12, 2019.</ref>
In 2008, a Handel Company "fine and rare elk lamp" (c. 1917) was sold at Sotheby's in New York for US$85,000 in its "20th century design" sale.<ref>(2008). [http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2008/20th-century-design-n08422/lot.225.html "Handel: A fine and rare elk lamp"]. Sotheby's website. Retrieved December 18, 2016.</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Handel Company}} Category:1885 establishments in Connecticut Category:Companies based in New Haven County, Connecticut Category:Meriden, Connecticut Category:Defunct manufacturing companies based in Connecticut