L.288
A simple center-draft table lamp from the Belgian lamp manufacturer Lempereur & Bernard in Liège. Typical shape in brightly polished brass sheet without decoration, made around 1890-1900. Lempereur & Bernard have named their center-draft lamps "Lampe Belge" (= Belgian lamp).
Joseph Lempereur and Lambert Bernard were two cousins who founded a lamp factory in Herstal near Liège in 1868. Their big time came later, however, when they developed a large, robust center-draft burner with a sophisticated and effective flame disc and patented it in 1883. This burner in combination with a brass tank, which was decorated sometimes more, sometimes less, and a narrow-bulge Matador chimney was so successful that L&B soon established branches and production sites in the USA and Great Britain. The "Lampe Belge" had become world-famous.
I found this quite simple L&B lamp, which is presented here, in Bruges at a junk shop. There was nothing special about the lamp and I wouldn't have bought it if it hadn't had a large and beautiful tulip shade! This tulip was the real reason for the purchase. It is now on the large Wild & Wessel lamp L.054, where it much better suits. I then adorned the L&B lamp to my liking by fitting it with a painted Vesta shade. At some point the lamp even got an original L&B glass chimney.
Lamp Data
Added by me:
Glass chimney, Vesta shade, shade holder.
Cleaning and repairs:
I repaired the crack on the connector between base and vase by soldering a sheet of brass inside.
Lamp body:
Base made of ornamental, hexagonal cast brass, Ø 168 mm. The rest of the lamp body is made entirely of undecorated sheet brass.
Vase Ø 151 mm. Vase marked: Marque deposée L&B + logo with sun face. Vase is also the font with extra oil filler, cap marked: L&B Brevet 1883.
Burner:
18’’’ center-draft burner of Lempereur & Bernard, Liège.
Wick knob marked: Marque déposée L&B + logo with sun face.
Original flame disc with two-stage hat on tube, marked: Lempereur & Bernard Brevet 1883.
Round wick Ø 31 mm.
Glass chimney:
18’’’ Matador chimney with slim bulge. Height 264 mm, Ø fitter 64 mm.
Marked: Lempereur & Bernard - Marque Déposée - L&B - No.1 Cristal.
Shade and shade holder:
Vesta shade, white milk glass, Art Nouveau shape, hand-painted flowers, fluted top rim.
Height 178 mm, Ø fitter 234 and bulge 252 mm.
235 mm shade holder for 20’’’ burners.
Lamp dimensions:
Height up to collar 24.3 cm, total height with chimney 54.5 cm.
Total weight 1910 g.
