I bought a Medusa lamp (plus a table lamp, plus a ceiling lamp!) back in 2005. There are some things you should know about this lamp that might help with your purchase, and also help explain some of the divergence in opinions over it.
When I bought my lamps, the floor version came with six lights, and the table version came with three. I see now that Lumisource has reduced the floor version down to five lights, and the table version down to two lights. (I just now saw this at their website, [...]). Who knows why they did this, but that explains some of the later comments about the lamp having only five lights when six are pictured. Amazon should update this picture, as well as any picture of the table version that shows three lights instead of two.
(Just as a note: Lumisource also seems to have discontinued the ceiling Medusa lamp fixture.)
The Medusa lamps that I bought are extremely well-made: their brushed metal is very high-quality, the bases are sturdy and very heavy, and the shades are colorful and well-finished. I would say that the colors are all "standard" ones: the red is standard red, the green is standard green (neither bluish nor yellowish), the blue is a darker blue between royal and navy, the yellow is standard yellow, and the orange is yellow orange. All shades are finished with white interiors. My floor lamp (and table lamp) are stable enough, with heavy enough bases, that you can have the lamps all arranged to one side and the lamp will still remain stable unless you knock into it ... although for common sense's sake, this is probably not the best idea in the world. Once screwed together, it has stayed that way.
HOWEVER: Lumisource did also sell a cheaper version that I saw at Bed, Bath & Beyond, and others have mentioned seeing it at Target. This cheaper version was very definitely not of the same quality. It may not be bad, but it's not the same as the item that costs closer to $100. Just FYI.
However, now that I see that Lumisource has reduced the numbers of lamps, both on the floor model as well as the table model, I can no longer vouch for the overall quality, as it's not the same product that I bought. It may be of the same high quality, just with fewer lamps, but I cannot say for sure.
I did think it was important to let folks know that the product has changed some time over the past five years. (sigh) I guess "caveat emptor." LumiSource Medusa Floor Lamp
1 arm aimed at apainting, another right where I read... 2, 4 or 6 lights at a time, beautiful glass shades, takes easy to find bulbs, nicely priced (though I got it from asc-lighting). If you are into cool things, there is a medusa clock too, which gets a lot of attention.
I loved this lamp, at first. I've had it for several years. I have to warn you that there's a major flaw in its design, perhaps in the design of all similar lamps too, so examine them carefully as you shop.
This lamp is seriously top-heavy, and the split in the vertical pole is far too low to accommodate the top portion's weight. In no time at all, the flimsy "screw together at home" pole needed to be re-screwed all the time, and at a later stage, when the pole parts were stripped, the lamp seemed to be held together with balance and prayer. Later (and currently) it is held together with big swaths of transparent mailing tape. Nothing is quite strong enough, so the lamp sits with its broken hip cocked out at one angle and we have to be careful not to bump it or it will fall apart.
I like the look of the lamp so much I've been dreaming up ways to brace the two poles with creative hardware so that the thing stays together and upright, but I think once it's gone, it's gone. I'm not even sure a charity group will appreciate the hand-me-down of this lamp once it's done breaking in two.
So, while I give it many fine stars for its visual appeal, I give it a bomb for its durability and physical design.
[[UPDATE: AUGUST 2010, ONE YEAR LATER! The cat brushed against this lamp, and it split in half, fell over, and shattered into a million brightly colored pieces of glass and lightbulb. I rest my freakin' case.]]
We bought this lamp at a shop six or seven years ago and have used it consistently since then. It's never given us any trouble. (Compared to a couple others that we've picked up at box stores that were poorly made and are already gone.)
It's very stable. Like the previous reviewer said, its very nice about staying where you position it, so you can point it to different focal points in the room. We're now re-decorating the room and the colors don't match our new setup, so we're just ordering different shades and will continue to use this lamp. It's a good lamp; if you like the style, get it.
This is a quality lamp and seems much nicer and sturdier than the plastic sconced cheaper version available through Target. The frosted glass sconces are nice colors and it actually produces a surprising amount of light for 25 watt bulbs. The colors are a little different form the photo. (ie. the green looks more evergreen than chartreuse...). I like the 3 different light settings (2 lights, 3 lights or 5 lights on) and I added a dimmer switch to be able to adjust the light even further, so overall I'm satisfied with this purchase for the price. (Without the dimmer switch there is only 1 brightness, no 3 way, and can be a little harsh with all 5 lights on at once.)
My only complaint is that I ordered 2 of these and both have only 5 arms/sconces not 6 as the picture and description details. The colors are red, orange, blue, white and green, but no yellow. I was a little disappointed after unwrapping the extensive packaging to realize this and by that time it was too late/too difficult to repack all the pieces to return the item. Not that 5 lights is a deal breaker, but it was misrepresented as having six.
I sent a message to Amazon about this, but they didn't respond or update the photo or description, so maybe I just got some old stock or maybe they just don't think it's a big deal. Regardless, it is a nice little lamp. I placed both in the same corner; one on the floor and one on a little step stool, so I have 10 sconces in all directions filling the corner. it really does a nice job of filling up the entire space. - Medusa - Floor Lamps - Swing Arm Lamps - Novelty Lamps'
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