L.286

An original hanging lamp by Lempereur & Bernard with a very beautifully painted, large Vesta shade. A great souvenir from the Netherlands. When we discovered the lamp in a small antique shop in the old town of Utrecht, it was fully electrified. They had run two electric cables through the tubes of the lyre suspension and through the brass font to a dummy electric burner. I removed the cables and soldered the cable hole at the font.

The font is an ordinary one and not made for center-draft burners. Therefore, any burner could be used. By a lucky coincidence I got a 20’’’ Rita burner from Lempereur & Bernard, which I used in this lamp, although this burner has no lifter and extinguisher; but it is an original L&B burner (I usually use burners with lifter and extinguisher in my hanging lamps; this lamp is an exception). A porcelain smoke bell bought cheaply in Ghent completed the lamp.

Undoubtedly the most beautiful part of the lamp is the large Vesta shade, which delights with hand-painted chrysanthemums on a pink background. The lamp is pictured in an L&B catalogue, but with an ordinary, unpainted Rochester shade. The version here with the painted Vesta shade is many times more charming. The date of origin of the lamp is around 1900-1910.

Lamp Data

Added by me:
Smoke bell, burner with flame disc and glass chimney.

Cleaning and repairs:
Electrical wiring removed; cable hole on the font soldered shut.

Lamp body:
Lyre-shaped hanging device made of obliquely fluted brass tubing, with cast brass decorations, original by Lempereur & Bernard. Lyre width 42.5 cm. Porcelain smoke bell suspended at the top.
Below a font carrier of decorated brass sheet, inserted in the brass ring.
Drop-in font of smooth sheet brass without ornamentation, Ø 153 mm. Extra filling spout. Marked: Marque Déposée L&B + sun face. Cable hole at the bottom, now soldered shut.

Burner:
20’’’ Rita burner of Lempereur & Bernard, Liège.
Wick knob marked: Lempereur & Bernard. Black glass inlay.
Deflector marked: Rita.
Original flame disc with hat on sieve tube, marked: Lempereur & Bernard Brevete.
Flat wick 85 mm.

Glass chimney:
20’’’ Matador chimney with slim bulge. Height 273 mm, Ø fitter 62 mm.
Marked: Cross in circle, rest illegible.

Shade and shade holder:
Vesta shade, white milk glass, painted flowers on a pink ground throughout, flat upper rim. Golden decorative line at the neck.
Height 173 mm, Ø fitter 350 and bulge 384 mm.
350 mm shade holder by Lempereur & Bernard, made of openwork decorated brass sheet, screwed to the lyre.

Lamp dimensions:
Total height 79 cm (height not variable). Total weight 2860 g.