L.276

A beautifully decorated, distinguished cast zinc lamp, the origin of which is either France or Great Britain. The entire decoration is in an elegant historicist style; the lamp probably dates from 1880-1890. Under the base inside is a plaque on which the letters E, S and L can be read. It is not clear whether this plaque comes from a manufacturer, dealer or owner.

The lamp was already painted in two colours when I bought it. The clever combination of gold and brown made the lamp look very distinguished. However, up close, you could tell that the painting was applied later and rather amateurishly. A somewhat impatient hand hastily painted the raised ornamentation gold, very imperfectly and without accuracy. But the form of the colouring and painting harmonised so beautifully with the shape of the lamp that I decided to bronze the lamp itself in the same style.

The lamp came from France. The 15’’’ Gladiator burner that came with it had a damaged wick knob. It also did not fit the British tulip shade I had intended for this lamp. So I replaced it with a good 14’’’ Kosmos burner. The 14’’’ Kosmos chimney that came with it was now allowed to stay on it, of course.

The tulip shade has a 3 inch fitter width (approx. 74 mm). The usual 85 mm globe holders are much too wide for this. Therefore, I adapted such a globe holder with glued brass rods to the tulip shade's fitter width, so that the tulip now sits quite firmly in the globe holder.

Later I discovered parts of this lamp in the catalogue of the London firm Silber & Fleming: the vase with the handles on lamp 8266 (page 232) and the base on lamp 8277 (page 233). Later still, I saw handles on a Ditmar lamp belonging to an Italian collector friend, which are very similar to the handles on the upper part of my lamp. See the photo at the bottom. The origin of the lamp is a mystery.

Lamp Data

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

Cleaning and repairs:
Zinc castings primed with shoe polish and coloured with brass wax. Globe holder adapted to the tulip shade with glued brass rods.

Lamp body:
Base and vase made of elaborately designed zinc casting in historicism style, very ornamental and rich in detail. Base on 4 feet, Ø 175 mm. A lead plaque with initials under the foot.
Vase with two screwed on handles as mythical creatures. Vase Ø 126 mm, with the handles 182 mm.
Drop-in font of clear glass, with lid of ornamental zinc casting, soldered again to the side of the lid with two metal strips. Lid Ø 108 mm.

Burner:
14’’’ Kosmos burner of an unknown producer (probably from Austria).
Wick knob marked: Double headed eagle + crown.
Flat wick 66 mm.

Glass chimney:
14’’’ Kosmos chimney. Height 250 mm, Ø fitter 52 mm.
Marked: Spécial Recuit - Made in France 14''' + crown and garland.

Shade and shade holder:
British tulip shade, transparent glass, yellow at the top, colourless at the bottom, flat etched motifs, optically ribbed, upper rim fluted and frilled.
Height 152 mm, Ø fitter 74 and top rim 175 mm.
85 mm globe holder for 14’’’/15’’’ burners; adapted to the tulip shade.

Lamp dimensions:
Height up to collar 28.5 cm, total height with chimney 56.0 cm.
Total weight 2750 g.

From left: L.276 compared to two lamps by Silber & Fleming with identical vase or base - Handle of a Ditmar lamp in the collection of an Italian friend (oldlight.it Lamp 4011) - Handle of L.276 in comparison