I'm delighted to discover that a faithful reader of this blog is a neighbor in the city, chair of our co-op lobby decorating committee, with whom I am privileged to serve on the board.
I just wanted to tell you (and I bet your wonderful decorator knows this, too, and probably better than I) those 'acorn' lamps as you call them are either electrified originals or electrified copies of 18th century night lights.
Originally, they were hung at the bottom of stair cases or in hallways leading to bedrooms. They were hung on chains so the lamp could be raised and lowered which made them accessible for cleaning and filling them partially with lamp or whale oil which would almost burn away by dawn. There would be a floating wick which would be lit. They were meant to be both decorative and practical.
The most famous of these night lights in the Hudson River Valley is at Boscobel. It is cobalt blue, and hung at the foot of the stairs. A photo is attached.
You lucky dog, you!
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