What is this door knob style called?

January 4, 2020 9:26 AM

Can anyone help me put a name to this style of door knob? I cannot find anything similar anywhere on the internet, including ebay or any antique door hardware websites. These are glass and on 4 interior doors throughout our home and would like to replace a couple that are scratched/broken with something similar looking. Also I've lost a few set screws and the ones I've attempted from some antique door knob retailers have not fit. Thanks!
posted by zackola to Home & Garden (6 answers total)

They are just gorgeous! These are cabinet knobs but look very similar and I used crystal antique round swirled to find them. Same with these. Some combo of crystal, glass, fluted, swirled, sphere, antique, knob, doorknob might work. These may be actual doorknobs? No sizes I noticed so cannot tell. It does say they're manufacted by estamp in Spain.
posted by the webmistress at 9:37 AM on January 4, 2020

I found these on ebay, though they aren't exactly the same.
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 9:38 AM on January 4, 2020

Best answer: Oh, those are beautiful! My first guess was "fluted globe" and that led me to "pumpkin glass door knobs" which seems to be very close to what you've got.
posted by minervous at 9:39 AM on January 4, 2020 [2 favorites]

Best answer: 1. I'd get in touch with Bart Slutsky at Rogerson's Hardware in Hudson, NY. He's a specialist in older interior door hardware and may know what you've got and have a lead on resources to find more.

2. Re: set screws
If the threads are standard, it is pretty easy to make new set screws from threaded brass rod.
If the threads are non-standard, the holes can be tapped for standard set screws.
New brass set screws can be "aged" to fit with the existing hardware.

3. Is replacement a "must"? Scratches or sharp edges from breaks could be made safer or less obvious.
If you want "like new" knobs that match, reproduction may be your best option - There's a well-known shop in LIC - but custom work in glass is expensive. You might consider acrylic as a compromise.
posted by Glomar response at 11:55 AM on January 4, 2020 [4 favorites]

The term I know is 'melon' -- an example in cabinet hardware. [Possibly pertinent replacement advice from This Old House.]
posted by Iris Gambol at 1:59 PM on January 4, 2020

Response by poster: Update for those interested, the doorknobs are most likely from Europe and the screws are metric (M6) set screws, which are difficult, but not impossible to find. I took a knob to a large antiques dealer in NYC (Olde Good Things) and the guy there said he'd never seen anything like them before but did use the term "fluted" to describe them.
posted by zackola at 6:11 AM on January 8, 2020 [1 favorite]