L.160
A lamp with a very simple construction: a ceramic body, which also functions as a kerosene/paraffin container, is equipped with a burner. With this simple construction, the lamp resembles the thousands of rather small lamps that have every conceivable object as a cast and painted ceramic body. These small lamps, mostly equipped with small Spar or Stern burners from Germany, were probably initially intended for children's rooms. Because of their popularity, the market was later flooded with cheap mass-produced products from the Far East (Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, etc.). Until the last years of the last century (possibly even today) these small lamps were produced with more or less skillfully modeled sofas, coal stoves, horse-drawn carriages, teapots, all sorts of animals, and the like, sometimes quite funny things.
This lamp presented here, the lamp body of which was produced by the Belgian ceramics manufacturer Wasmuël (Faïencerie de Wasmuël, 1834-1952) on the one hand resembles these small, sometimes funny lamps, on the other hand it is a very sought-after rarity. The lamp was made for the completion of the Eiffel Tower for the Paris World Exhibition in 1889 and is therefore very popular with collectors of Eiffel Tower devotional objects. As a result, it was recommended to me by a highly respected collector and friend when it appeared on eBay France.
Unfortunately, I do not know whether only the ceramics were commissioned from Wasmuël by a French lamp company or whether the entire lamp was produced and marketed by Wasmuël. Still, I added it to my collection as a Belgian lamp. Other lamp bodies are also known from this Belgian ceramics factory, which have won over a certain group of collectors with their natural scenes (flowers, butterflies, etc.) or objects (towers, houses, beer mugs, etc.) modeled in relief and painted in bright colours. These ceramic products are simply called "barbotine" in France, although this designation is incorrect here and is used out of ignorance. These products owe their relief surface not to "slip painting" by hand, but to appropriately modelled casting moulds. See also: Infoboxes - Ceramics and Porcelain - The Painting of Porcelain and Other Ceramic Objects.
The tulip I have chosen with its straight, conical lines running upwards is the perfect counterpart to the body of the lamp, which is also strictly conical, but now becomes wider towards the bottom.
Lamp Data
Added by me:
Glass chimney, tulip shade, globe holder.
Cleaning and repairs:
Small chips on the base were repaired and painted over by Mr. Kühnel.
Lamp body:
Hand-painted ceramic lamp body to imitate the lower part of the Eiffel Tower. Base on 4 feet, side length 12 cm. The lamp body is also the font.
Burner:
14’’’ Kosmos burner of A. Daveluy (= ADA), France.
Wick knob marked: Logo of circle with points.
Burner marked at the bottom: Bté. S.G.D.G. ADA Déposé.
Flat wick 68 mm.
Glass chimney:
14’’’ Kosmos chimney. Height 245 mm, Ø fitter 52 mm.
Marked: Cristalline Unis France + crown and eagle.
Shade and shade holder:
Tulip shade, frosted glass, light green above, colourless below, cameo-etched Art Nouveau ornamentation, 6-fold angular corrugation.
Height 150 mm, Ø fitter 67 and top rim 130 mm.
70 mm globe holder for 14’’’/15’’’ burners.
Lamp dimensions:
Height up to collar 20.5 cm, total height with chimney 48.9 cm.
Total weight 1320 g.
