L.077
This graceful figural lamp looked very seductive on the eBay listing; a beautifully modelled female figure with a charming, greenish patina could be seen in the photos. Little did I know when I bought it that I had bought a very problematic lamp.
It all started when I realized that the font was crooked. That was because the metal undermount was soldered crookedly into the hand of the figure. So I separated the undermount from the hand by carefully sawing it. When I wanted to solder the metal undermount in the hand now upright, half the hand melted away under the soldering iron! The melting point of this zinc alloy was very low, probably due to a high proportion of lead. My cousin still managed to solder the undermount into the remaining hand stubs by very careful soldering. Later I had to model the missing fingers with Stabilit® Express, which I managed to do reasonably well. But a downward handle of the undermount was still missing; the palm of the hand was strangely empty. I then took hours of detailed work to make a fantasy handle from various brass parts. Then I painted the fingers to match the patina of the figure. See: Repairs – Working on Metal Parts – Modelling of Missing Small Parts.
The casting of the figure is not done in a masterly manner as with my other figural lamps. Various casting seams are visible. No effort was made to work on the cast surface. The colouring was also carried out very easily and quickly. The entire base was painted with the uniform green colour. I added colour accents here by adding gold bronze and black paint. The metal base is held in place with two modern screws. I assume that the lamp was made in the 1930-1940’s.
Lamp Data
Added by me:
Burner, glass chimney, tulip shade and globe holder.
Cleaning and repairs:
See above.
Lamp body:
Base made of the same cast zinc as the figure and patinated with the same appearance (now changed by me), octagonal, Ø 14.5 cm.
Female figure with flowers in hand and hair made of cast zinc with a very low melting point; patinated in green, brown and black colours. Without signature.
Font made of white, very thin milk glass, stepped several times, Ø 129 mm.
Burner:
8’’’ Kosmos burner of Schuster & Baer, Berlin.
Wick knob marked: Reform-Rund-Brenner. This logo was also used by Brökelmann, Jaeger & Busse in Neheim.
Flat wick 40 mm.
Glass chimney:
8’’’ Kosmos chimney. Height 250 mm, Ø fitter 36 mm.
Marked: Cristal Recuit Casino 8’’’.
Shade and shade holder:
Tulip shade, colourless glass, frosted, cameo-etched ornamentation in Art Nouveau style, fluted top rim.
Height 130 mm, Ø fitter 60 and top rim 165 mm.
70 mm globe holder for 8’’’ burners.
Lamp dimensions:
Height up to collar 51.2 cm, total height with chimney 80.0 cm.
Total weight 4440 g.
