L.072

A Belgian center-draft lamp from Moreau Frères in Liège. Typical Belgian table lamp made of ornamentally decorated sheet brass, manufactured around 1900. Moreau Frères called their lamps "Lampe Liégeoise" (= Lamp from Liège).

The lamp had piqued my interest because of the flame disc, which looked very different from the flame discs on the lamps from Lempereur & Bernard. At first I thought this lamp was an L&B lamp because it looked very similar to ordinary L&B lamps. I could identify the actual producer only later with Ara's help. The lamp turned out to be a relatively simple table lamp from a small Belgian lamp manufacturer, Moreau Frères (= Moreau Brothers) in Liège. This solved the puzzle of the unusually shaped flame disc. This flame disc is the original flame disc from Moreau Frères for center-draft lamps. It can also be found on the burner of my second lamp by Moreau Frères (L.348).

Moreau Frères belong to rather smaller, probably also little-known Belgian lamp manufacturers. I have not yet been able to find any information about this manufacture. I also don't know if they made other types of lamps with ordinary burners (e.g. flat burners, round burners with side drafts, etc.).

I fitted the lamp with a beautiful Vesta shade in Art Nouveau shape, which probably comes from the same time period.

Lamp Data

Added by me:
Shade and shade holder.

Cleaning and repairs:
The lamp came in a very well cleaned condition. I just polished it with polishing paste.

Lamp body:
Base made of openwork, decorative cast brass, on 4 feet, 132 x 132 mm, Ø 162 mm.
Vase made of embossed brass sheet, Ø 152 mm. The vase is also the font, with extra oil filler.

Burner:
18’’’ center-draft burner of Moreau Frères, Liège.
Wick knob marked: Lampe Liégeoise - Brevetée - S.G.D.G. - M.F. (difficult to read).
Deflector marked: 18.
Original flame disc with domed hat on tube.
Round wick Ø 30 mm.

Glass chimney:
18’’’ Matador chimney with slim bulge. Height 262 mm, Ø fitter 64 mm.
Marked: Deposé - La qualité fait la force - F. Bovi Bruxelles 18’’’.

Shade and shade holder:
Vesta shade, white milk glass, Art Nouveau shape, fluted top rim.
Height 168 mm, Ø fitter 234 and bulge 269 mm.
235 mm shade holder for 20’’’ burners.

Lamp dimensions:
Height up to collar 24.3 cm, total height with chimney 53.4 cm.
Total weight 1730 g.