L.059

A very typical French lamp with a decorated base of cast brass and a font of green glass decorated with golden ornaments. Probably from the Art Nouveau period around 1900-1910.

This lamp has an attractive square base of heavy, finely worked cast brass. The ornamentation reminds me of Arabic arabesques. I had to sand down one of the feet about 2.5 mm to bring all 4 feet to one level. The conical column of pressed sheet brass set on top also has elaborate relief decoration. It was this rare base/column combination that enticed me to buy this lamp.

When I cleaned it at home, I unfortunately found that the font has a crack about 3 cm long at the top. The flower ornamentation is interestingly done: the motifs were first cut into the glass and then painted over with gold paint. However, the gold paint is quite thinly applied and dull and therefore does not really come into its own.

I added a 20’’’ Gladiator burner from SI Paris and an old Vesta shade to the lamp. This lamp is thus one of the few French lamps that have a Vesta shade instead of the usual tulips or ball shades.

Lamp Data

Added by me:
Burner with flame disc, glass chimney, Vesta shade and shade holder.

Cleaning and repairs:
One foot ground approx. 2.5 mm for exact flatness of the base.

Lamp body:
Base of square, finely ornamented cast brass, on 4 feet. 14 x 14 cm. The four feet not exactly on one level.
Short column of matching brass sheet embossed in relief, round.
Font of green frosted glass, optically vertically ribbed, with floral ornaments (cut and painted with gold paint). A hairline crack at the top next to the collar, ca. 3 cm. Font Ø 156 mm.

Burner:
20’’’ Gladiator burner of S.I. (= Societé industrielle d’articles d‘éclairage), Paris.
Wick knob marked: 20 Gladiator Paris. Black resin insert.
Flame disc of type hat-on-sieve-tube.
Flat wick 88 mm.

Glass chimney:
20’’’ Matador chimney. Height 282 mm, Ø fitter 64 mm.
Marked: Cristal Recuit 20''' + crown.

Shade and shade holder:
Vesta shade, white milk glass, opaque light green overlay, Art Nouveau shape, fluted top rim.
Height 178 mm, Ø fitter 233 and bulge 269 mm.
235 mm shade holder for 20’’’ burners.

Lamp dimensions:
Height up to collar 25.2 cm, total height with chimney 56.7 cm.
Total weight 2480 g.