Painting Gerald Thurston metal lamp shades  

Auto body shop
If I did not want to tackle them myself, I would take them to a body shop. These lamps shouldn't need a high heat paint as they only take those small christmas bulbs. They don't put out much heat, or generate much light for that matter.

Thank you Glassartist!
Thank you Glassartist!

Satin finish,not shiny!!!
My floor lamp has the matte/satin black shade which is original,so the less shine,the better

I know
someone who has repainted a few different lamps and they came out very nice. Pretty sure he uses Rust-oleum satin spray paint. Test is out on something else first. When you go to spray the actual lamp, take a piece of cardboard and place beside it to start the spray on it before making your way across the shades in strokes as you don't want to start the stroke on the shade itself. If there are flakes of paint missing from the original it will look bad so would take a very fine sand paper and do your best to even out the edges. Make sure to get all the dust off of it.
I am by far an expert in anything and seem to always catch crap for my suggestions which is why I say to test is out on some other metal object first to see if you like the result.
As far as these Lightolier lamps go, most on 1st Dibs have been repainted so I personally would not worry about affecting the value. Just do a really good job taping off the rest of the lamp to protect from over-spray. A little Howards on the walnut parts on the legs and you should be good to go.
I happen to have more Lightolier lamps than the average human and have never repainted any of them as I feel they tell more of a story in the condition they are in. Post a pic of yours and let us take a look at it.

Thanks guys ( Tulipman...
Thanks guys ( Tulipman and jdip ).
I know the color should be flat so I'm affraid it will be difficult to find a flat paint in a body shop. I guess , they don't paint lamp shades that often and I don't see cars with satin or flat finish around.
I'm so afraid of doing it myself with a spray paint since I don't believe it's possible to achieve flawless , even and very thin layer of paint.
But, to start spraying first on a cardboard, is excellent advice ! Just in case....
I removed shades from the lamp ; one of the legs was very loose and I thought it needed some welding ? So imagine my surprise when the metal worker I visited yesterday , removed the paper protection from the joint , pulled out the wires and started tightening a screw ! It is a screw that keeps a leg attached to that brass cylinder in the middle.
I taped the wood ( perfect condition ! )so I can clean brass and tomorrow I will start looking for a bodyshop willing to paint my lamp .
I will post photos at the end .
Thanks for your help guys !

Bodyshop
seems a bit extreme. Maybe they can add some pin striping and flames

After seeing the last post...
After seeing the last post of jdip, my husband convinced me to forget about the bodyshop and to try to do it with my own hands.
I found Rust-Oleum Painter's touch paint in satin heirloom white , the closest match to the original.
According to a paint specialist , primer is a must.
I brought a lamp shade with me and he admired the copper ( or copper looking? ) finish on the metal and told me that , instead of using a scotch brite to remove all the scars on the shade , I should have bought WETORDRY paper sheets for cars , 1000 grit.
Back home I tried immediately wet sanding and in case there's someone else like me who knows next to nothing about painting, sanding, metal, cars,....this paper for wet sanding is fantastic !!!!! No mess , very fine , even , smooth finish. I also got 2000 grit and it's only for polishing as it barely removes any color. If the final result is not as smooth and even or if the color is not as flat as I want it to be, I'm thinking now of using this 2000 grit sand paper as a final touch.
My 12 years old daughter ( lalagirl !??!! ) helped me with attaching a photo of one of the shades .
So, I will after all, try to do it myself. If I fail , bodyshop is still an option
http://s1320.photobucket.com/user/Lalagirl1059/library/

Done !
I painted the...
Done !
I painted the shades with Rust-Oleum paint : 2 coats of primer , 2 coats of paint ( tried with only 1 coat of primer and it wasn't good, had to go back to sending ). Much to my surprise , it does not look " thick and heavy ".
And yes, it is smooth and even .I kept a spray bottle some 30 cm away from a shade . It is not completely flat color , but then again, from what I saw of the original color , I don't think G. Thurston shade color is as flat as L. Kalff. I could be wrong , of course. By the way ,I'm talking about observation of the paint job next to a very bright day light. When I put the lamp away from a window , the color becomes fabulous , dead flat .
For sure , I would love to have this lamp in an original , condition with signs of age and patina . But sometimes, too much is just too much.
I took away a lot of its past, its soul.I hope that , by trying to stop decay and bring back old glory ( with lots of love ), I did some good.
I know that quality of this picture doesn't allow you to realy see the quality of my paint job ( my first ever on a vintage piece ) but trust me, it does look good.
Again, many thanks for your help and advice.
http://i1320.photobucket.com/albums/u521/Lalagirl1059/Toronto-20130327-0...

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Very nice job, wet and dry is great stuff, you can use it to clean stainless sinks and sharpen things at home too, scissors and knives and utility blades., freehand is fine for them.
Just make something to hold your workpiece at a fixed angle and you're away.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scary_sharp

Restoring lamps
I restore mid century lamps for fun and selling them off. I've come across the painted shades all the time. I try to keep the original paint as much as I can. But there are times when the scratches or flaking paint are to much. I take paint removed and take the whole metal shade down to bare metal. Look it over for any dings and fix them with body filler and sand. Then paint with either an automotive paint that matches the original or Rustolieum paint that matches. I hand the shade and paint in long strokes till it's covered. At times I've had to paint both the inside and outside of the lamp. A lot of taping after the shade dries entirely. Mean while I'm re-wiring and cleaning the rest of the lamp. Then carefully reassemble the lamp and shade back together.