The Font

The font has the important, functional task of holding a sufficiently large amount of kerosene/paraffin (mostly 0.3-0.8 litres) and also holding the burner in place. As already described several times above, fonts can be made of different materials such as glass, sheet metal, porcelain or ceramics and can also be decorated differently.

I divide the fonts into four groups, depending on how they are mounted in a lamp:

a) The completely visible font
b) Fonts for suspending in a metal ring
c) Fonts for insertion in a lamp vase
d) Fonts with other design

Often, however, there are lamps whose middle part already functions as a font. These include many table lamps made of different materials and shapes and often it is almost impossible to distinguish them clearly from the fonts described here in this chapter. The small lamps for nurseries or the so-called boudoir lamps almost always do not have a dedicated font; their entire lamp body often functions as the font. 

The Completely Visible Font

The shape of the visibly attached font is almost always round, often widening from bottom to top, possibly with indentations or constrictions on the sides. The material of this type of font is for the most part colourless or coloured glass, which can be hand-blown or pressed into shape, or made of metal, usually made of sheet brass, which is ornamentally decorated or completely bare, i.e. completely without ornamentation.

Examples of fonts that are visible from the outside
Top row: Cut crystal glass - painted glass - embossed glass - milk glass
Middle row: Etched glass - uranium glass - speckled glass - glass with applications
Bottom row: Porcelain - ceramic – decorated sheet brass - plain sheet brass

The Suspended Font

A special case of the visible font is the font that is loosely suspended in a metal ring. These fonts must inevitably have either a slightly larger top or an appropriately sized bulging thickening on their wall, the diameter of which is larger than the ring in which they are hung. In contrast to the font described above, which is permanently mounted on the lamp middle section, the suspended font can be easily removed. This variant was often used for simpler hanging lamps or wall lamps to make it easier to fill in the kerosene/paraffin. But also high-quality table lamps are occasionally equipped with this type of font. Some fonts for hanging are provided with a wider, horizontal-planar base so that you can even use them as a stand-alone table lamp without hanging them in a frame. The material used is often sheet metal and glass. Sometimes such tanks are suspended in a metal vase that is so perforated that the lower part of the suspended font can be seen clearly (see the last two illustrations in the next but one photo).

In English usage, both the fonts for suspending in a metal support and the fonts for inserting in a vase are called "drop-in font". I have also adopted this somewhat generalised term in my English translations for both types of fonts.

Some fonts for suspending (upper row: fonts mainly for suspending; lower row: fonts that can also be used independently. The photos are comparable in size).
Top row, from left: Typical, often used font made of white milk glass
A similar font made of white glazed ceramics
A very large font made of ornamentally pressed sheet brass, for large hanging lamps (R. Ditmar, Vienna)
Bottom row, from left: Smaller font made of bare sheet brass
Smaller glass font made of simple transparent glass
Large, finely cut crystal font from Great Britain

Examples of suspended fonts
Top row, from left: Crystal font, suspended in a French Tripod lamp
Glass font made of blue milk glass in a British table lamp
Font made of brass sheet, hung in a student lamp
Font of coloured sheet brass in a hanging lamp (Veritas)
Bottom row, from left: Font of sheet copper, hung in a British table lamp 
Font of sheet copper in a British floor lamp
Font of white milk glass, hung in the perforated vase of a wall lamp
Font of sheet brass in the perforated vase of a hanging lamp

The Hidden Font (Drop-in Font)

In the case of lamps with a hidden font, this is inserted into the upper opening of the vase so that only the lid of the tank remains visible, while the actual container is hidden in the vase. They are thus similar to the suspended fonts, with the difference that they are not suspended in a metal ring, but are inserted loosely into the vase of a lamp. These fonts can also be removed from the vase as desired. The drop-in font often consists of a container made of colourless, transparent glass or galvanized sheet iron and a lid that closes this container at the top. The font collar made of sheet brass (more rarely made of cast zinc) is attached to this cover and is used to screw in the burner. The lid of the petroleum tank is - at least in the majority of cases, especially with the cast zinc and majolica lamps - matching the vase, i.e. made of the same material and with the same or matching ornamentation, so that the vase is closed above harmoniously in every respect. The vase and the lid thus form a uniform appearance. If the tank is made of glass or ceramic, it has been connected to the lid with a suitable adhesive material, usually gypsum plaster, window putty or the like. If the tank is made of metal, it is probably soldered to the lid, because then the lid is also made of metal.

Another variant is formed by drop-in fonts, which consist entirely of the same material and whose wider upper part remains clearly visible outside the vase. This category includes glass fonts made of opaque-white, unpainted milk glass as well as painted glass fonts adapted to the decor and appearance of the vase. The former are often found in lamps with a chalice-shaped vase made of cast zinc, the latter, however, only in high-quality lamps made of painted glass, the decoration of which is decisive for the decoration of the glass font. There are similar fonts made of embossed, decorated sheet brass, which in turn are placed in equally decorated vases made of sheet brass. Belgian lamp manufacturers in particular have often used this type. In British table lamps, one often finds fonts made entirely of ceramic. Drop-in fonts made entirely of porcelain are less common in salon lamps.

Examples of drop-in fonts (top row: fonts made of combined materials; bottom row: fonts made of the same material)
Upper row: Glass with cast zinc lid – glass with majolica lid - sheet iron (brass-plated) with brass lid - sheet copper with cast zinc lid
Bottom row: Brass sheet - glass - porcelain – ceramics

Fonts with a Different Design

In addition to these very common, often used fonts, there are also versions that do not fit into any of the categories described above, as their attachment and mode of operation are very different from the fonts presented there. These include, in particular, the fonts of the student and German piano lamps. The classic student lamps are usually equipped with an "invert font" as a kerosene/paraffin reservoir, which is connected to the burner only by a thin tube. I use the term “invert font” because I cannot find an adequate English translation of the German “Sturzflasche”. The technique of the invert font was already used in the historical oil lamps of Argand. This font is placed laterally on the support rod and contains a larger quantity of kerosene/paraffin, which is only fed to the burner in small portions. The operation of this innovative fuel feed is described in the chapter Other Household Lamps.

In the German-style piano lamps, the vase takes on the function of a reservoir. This font is also connected to the burner only by a thin tube. However, it is not an inverted font, but a simple vessel whose filling level is identical to that of the fuel in the burner tube, as both parts are open at the top and thus exposed to the same air pressure. A small hole in the filler neck equalises the pressure of the kerosene/paraffin tank.

In the French office lamps by Peigniet-Changeur and the famous Vesta lamp by Wild & Wessel, the kerosene/paraffin reservoirs are horizontally elongated vessels through the centre of which the support rod of the lamp runs. The burner is then screwed directly onto this reservoir again. 

In the case of Moderator lamps that have been converted to kerosene/paraffin operation and to which no additional font has been added, the internal (and therefore completely invisible) metal cylinder of the Moderator system takes over the function of a font for kerosene/paraffin.

Examples of kerosene/paraffin fonts of a different kind
Top row, from left: Lateral “invert font” (left in picture) at a student lamp (E. Miller, USA)
Vase (left in picture) of a piano lamp as the fuel container (C. F. Kindermann)
Bottom row, from left: Elongated porcelain vessel as a fuel container in a French office lamp (Peigniet-Changeur)
Two converted Moderator lamps in which the initial internal iron vessel serves now as the font for kerosene/paraffin

The Threaded Rod to Connect the Lamp Parts

There are many lamps that are assembled from parts that are not firmly connected to each other. In particular, lamps whose vase is made of glass, porcelain or ceramic, but whose base is made of a metal, usually cast brass or cast zinc, need an arrangement in order to be firmly connected to one another. To accomplish this task, a threaded rod was used that firmly connects the upper part of the lamp to the base by screwing the two parts together. If the font is made of metal at the top, a nut has been soldered under this tank to screw in the threaded rod there (scheme C in the following photo). If, on the other hand, the font is made of a non-metallic container such as glass or ceramic, an additional bowl made of metal had to be used as an auxiliary structure in order to be able to solder the nut to it. This additional container (very often made of sheet brass, much less often made of iron or zinc sheet) is like a mug, the upper edge of which protrudes outwards so that it can stand on the upper edge of the vase (scheme D in the following photo). Another variant occurs when the lower opening of the vase allows a washer and a nut to be attached. With this arrangement, the threaded rod does not need a metal font or additional metal container to be screwed into it (scheme E in the following photo).

A firmly tightened threaded rod fastens all loose parts of a lamp together. Of course you do not need a threaded rod for lamps whose base and vase are already firmly attached. These are, for example, lamps made of cast zinc and sheet brass, whose base is already firmly attached to the vase already in production process (welded or soldered together), or lamps made of glass, whose base and vase are made in one piece (schemes A and B in the following photo).

Schematic representation of drop-in fonts
A) Complete glass or brass font dropped in a glass or brass lamp respectively.
B) Glass font with cast zinc lid in a cast zinc lamp made as one piece.
C) Lamp with several parts: The threaded rod connects the metal font to the base.
D) Lamp with several parts: The threaded rod connects the additional bowl to the base.
E) Lamp with several parts:  The threaded rod connects the vase to the base. 

Threaded rod, additional bowl, font collar, metal undermount
Upper row: Threaded rod soldered to sheet iron font - threaded rod soldered to additional bowl below the brass font
Bottom row: Common font collar with thread - collar for duplex burners with bayonet fitting - metal undermount for screwing in collars - metal undermount for inserting in candlesticks

Font Collar and Metal Undermount

On each font without exception there is the collar, a threaded ring made of sheet brass or cast zinc to screw in the burner. Depending on the type and size of burner used, there are different sized collars. In the majority of British lamps, the collar does not have a thread, but two short bayonet lugs on the outside wall of the collar, which are used to fix the British duplex burners with bayonet connection (see The Duplex Burner). In the case of a metal font, the collar is either soldered to it or produced together with it in one casting (e.g. in the case of cast zinc lamps). In glass tanks, on the other hand, the collar is plastered or cemented to the neck of the tank. In all cases the collar is firmly attached to the font and cannot be easily separated from it.

Another permanently attached metal part of a font visibly mounted outside a vase is the metal undermount at the bottom, which allows the font to be permanently mounted or screwed in on the central part of such lamps, e.g. on a column or sculpture. The metal undermount is usually a small, hollow brass part tapering towards the bottom, the lower part of which is provided with an external thread. It is either a permanently attached component in metal fonts or is plastered/cemented to the glass spigot of a glass font. It goes without saying that the internal thread of the counterpart on the lamp where the font is to be screwed in must match the thread of the undermount. The metal undermounts of smaller glass fonts, which are designed to be inserted into a candlestick, have special resilient steel plates that allow the font to be securely fixed in the candle holder (see previous photo).

The following photo shows an example of a brass undermount and a brass counterpart. Brass undermounts can be purchased online (e.g. at www.hytta.de), but the matching counterparts are no longer available. Other accessories that are very rare to find are transmission rings that can be used to reduce (or even expand) the thread sizes of the collars so that otherwise unsuitable burners can be screwed onto them. There were also special attachments with a filler neck that could be fitted between the collar and the burner to fill with kerosene/paraffin if necessary without having to unscrew the burner.

The fitting of a glass font with collar and metal undermount as well as other accessories
Top row, from left: A bare glass font entirely without metal parts
The glass font with attached collar and metal undermount; metal undermount screwed into a large, ornate counterpart with internal thread
Font collars (from top to bottom: for 14'' and 10'' Kosmos burners and for Duplex burners with bayonet connection)
Bottom row, from left: A brass undermount and a brass counterpart (22 mm thread)
Special attachment for filling kerosene/paraffin without unscrewing the burner
Transmission rings (above: from 48.5 down to 39.5 mm; below: from USA #3 down to #2)

In the case of the kerosene/paraffin lamps with a visible font to be screwed onto a central part, there were certain standardisations that allowed the kerosene/paraffin font to be replaced at a later date. British lamp manufacturers in particular had provided the upper parts of the lamp columns and the metal undermount of the fonts with threads in 2-3 standard sizes. This made it possible to replace a broken or otherwise damaged kerosene/paraffin font with another one, provided the thread sizes were the same. This was also possible with some continental European lamps. However, because their thread sizes often varied, it was (and still is) difficult to find a suitable replacement kerosene/paraffin font.

The combination of these three components (the base, the central part and the font) forms the actual lamp body of a lamp. In most cases, this combination is distinctive and forms a specific unit. At most, the font can be replaced if necessary, if there is a possibility of doing so, as described above. All other components of a lamp (burners, chimneys and shades) are interchangeable. Therefore, in some publications, the height of a lamp is given only up to the top edge of the font collar, as the total height is variable due to the replaceable parts. For my lamps I always state both heights (up to the collar as well as total height including the burner and chimney).