L.225

This lamp and the lamp L.224 are a pair of twins. They came to me from Italy. Both are made of cast zinc and have stone bases of serpentine. They were probably made around 1875-1890 and are almost certainly from Germany.

Both lamps incl. their font collars are treated with a black paint. The paint has weathered and become dull. Very sparse traces of a greenish colour can still be seen in the ornamentally decorated areas. Presumably, the lamps were originally treated with a greenish patina that was quite popular at the time. I could only partially remove the black paint with sodium hydroxide solution. After cleaning with steel wool, I painted all the zinc castings with Faubourg Patina and polished them afterwards. I prefer not to bronze these lamps any further, because the beautiful shine of the Faubourg Patina is also very attractive. The handles and the collars, on the other hand, I have completely freed from the black paint.

I was able to replace the missing glass font well with another glass font that is slightly lower than the original piece (see photo below).

The serpentine base of this lamp had considerably more damage; a large piece at the lower edge had broken off. I filled the area with putty and sanded it into shape. On top of that I applied a thin layer of Stabilit, which I had coloured black with carbon black. After sanding again, I was able to polish the area with brass polishing cream. The result is not very good, but at least acceptable and far better than the original condition (see photo below).

Now the completed and restored lamps exude a restrained elegance.

Lamp Data

Added by me:
Glass font, burner with flame disc and globe holder.

Cleaning and repairs:
The broken edges of the serpentine base filled with putty and Stabilit and polished. Brass ring soldered into the globe holder, to stabilise the ball shade. Zinc castings cleaned, lacquered with Faubourg patina and polished.

Lamp body:
Base of stepped turned, black serpentine, with broken edge, Ø 143 mm.
On top a vase in urn form of ornamental zinc casting, with two movable handles. Vase Ø 125 mm, with the handles 180 mm. In the vase an additional container made of brass sheet.
Drop-in font of clear glass, added by me and cemented under the cast zinc lid to match the vase. Lid Ø 115 mm.

Burner:
16’’’ Salvator burner of Ehrich & Graetz, Berlin.
Wick knob marked: Logo of Ehrich & Graetz.
Wick knob ring marked: 16''' Salvatorbrenner.
Original flame disc, marked: 16''' Salvatorbrenner E&G.
Flat wick 68 mm.

Glass chimney:
15’’’ Matador chimney. Height 258 mm, Ø fitter 51 mm.
Marked: Cristal de Roche + eagle on globe.

Shade and shade holder:
Ball shade, colourless frosted glass, small cut stars, flat upper rim. Without slip fitter.
Height 156 mm, Ø bottom opening 82 and bulge 174 mm.
85 mm globe holder for 14’’’/15’’’ burners, with soldered wide brass ring.

Lamp dimensions:
Height up to collar 33.5 cm, total height with chimney 62.9 cm.
Total weight 3860 g.