A light fixture, light fitting, or luminaire is an electrical lighting device containing one or more light sources, such as lamps, and all the accessory components required for its operation to provide illumination to the environment. All light fixtures have a fixture body and one or more lamps. The lamps may be in sockets for easy replacement—or, in the case of some LED fixtures, hard-wired in place.
Lamp and lampshade made of Tiffany glass; c. 1890–1900; Budapest Museum of Applied Arts (Budapest, Hungary)
Lamp; 1902–1918; lead and glass; 67.9 x 52.1 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City)
"Daffodil" lamp; 1904–1924; leaded opalescent glass and gilt bronze; height: 67.9 cm, diameter of shape: 51.4 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art
Chandeliers in the Bibliothèque Mazarine (Paris)
An electric light, lamp, or light bulb is an electrical component that produces light. It is the most common form of artificial lighting. Lamps usually have a base made of ceramic, metal, glass, or plastic, which secures the lamp in the socket of a light fixture, which is often called a "lamp" as well. The electrical connection to the socket may be made with a screw-thread base, two metal pins, two metal caps or a bayonet mount.
Incandescent and compact fluorescent lamps
Sign with instructions on the use of light bulbs
A tablet at St John the Baptist Church, Hagley commemorates the installation of electric light in 1934.
Top, two compact fluorescent lamps. Bottom, two fluorescent tube lamps. A matchstick, left, is shown for scale.
