L.109

One of the most magnificent and valuable lamps in my collection! It is almost a museum piece from the famous porcelain manufacturer Spode Copeland in England. The seller on eBay Great Britain had documented a crack in the middle of the column with several photos, which in the end probably deterred several bidders from bidding even higher. My bid won by a razor-thin margin over the losing bidder and I couldn't believe my luck for quite a while....

The base, column and font are of extremely fine and exuberantly richly painted porcelain. Signature: Copeland ... England (light green, printed) + Spode (red, handwritten) + 1227 (golden, handwritten, with a small cross) + crown .... (light brown, printed). The indicated crack is, in my opinion, a break, but it has been glued together very well. As no pieces of porcelain were missing from the edge of the crack, the crack was only noticeable from close up as a darker line. Nevertheless, I had the column taken apart by Mr Kühnel in Mannheim and had it professionally re-glued. He finely painted over the cracks.

The column, which is flanked by three stylised swans at the bottom, rises from an extremely imposing, royal-looking, triangular base. The font in the shape of an open flower is painted with the same patterns as the base. The font has a metal thread and can be removed. The painting of the column is more floral. There are many porcelain pieces from Spode Copeland that are painted in these different decorations. The lamp is probably from c. 1890-1910 (there are hundreds of porcelain marks by Spode Copeland; one would have to study them very thoroughly to get a sure dating).

As a very lucky coincidence, sometime later a tulip shade by Veritas, perfectly matching in shape and colour, was offered on eBay UK. This tulip shade is by far the most expensive shade I have ever bought, as it matched the basic colour tones of the lamp beautifully with its amber colour. This tulip shade is pictured in Veritas catalogue 1909.

Since the font had a silver-plated collar, I had to use a silver-plated Duplex burner. Much later I got an original silver-plated Hinks burner at a very reasonable price, because the seller had not even realised that the burner was silver-plated; it had in fact tarnished to an unsightly dark colour. A fine Duplex chimney completed the lamp.

For me, this lamp is the culmination of the noblest lamps from the high noble British Empire and as a collector I am very proud to have this lamp in my collection.

Lamp Data

Added by me:
Burner incl. globe holder, glass chimney and tulip shade.

Cleaning and repairs:
See above.

Lamp body:
Triangular base and vertically ribbed column of very finely and richly polychrome painted porcelain, signed: Spode Copeland. Base side length 22 cm. Height without font 41 cm. Column broken in the middle and glued together. Additional vertical crack.
Font of very finely and richly polychrome painted porcelain, in the shape of a blossom, Ø 198 mm, height 145 mm, removable. Silver-plated bayonet collar, without mark.

Burner:
Duplex burner of Hinks & Son, Birmingham, silver-plated, bayonet fitting, with gallery lifter and extinguisher. Firmly combined with the globe holder.
Wick knob marked: Hinks No.2 Lever.
Cap bridge marked: Hinks & Son Patent.
One flat wick as a loop, 28 mm. Transport wick not provided.

Glass chimney:
Duplex chimney with oval bulge. Height 260 mm, Ø fitter 65 mm.
Marked: Griffin-Brand Fireproof Foreign + griffin.

Shade and shade holder:
British tulip shade by Veritas, frosted glass, amber above, colourless below, flat transparent motifs, top rim fluted and frilled.
Height 161 mm, Ø fitter 101 and top rim 215 mm.
100 mm globe holder for 20’’’ burners, silver-plated; integral part of the burner.

Lamp dimensions:
Height up to collar 55.0 cm, total height with chimney 84.9 cm.
Total weight 3770 g.