L.190

The special feature of this lamp is that its vase is entirely made of alabaster, which was made in three parts and then glued together. The middle part is decorated with fully plastic flowers. I am not aware of any other alabaster lamp of this kind. The alabaster is in good condition; there are no notable breaks or cracks. I cleaned the dirty parts with steel wool and then rubbed the entire alabaster with soapstone polishing wax. Lamp probably dates to around 1880; this dating is based on the very rococo style decorated base which is probably gilded.

The glass font caused a negative surprise: it cracked by itself in several stages after cleaning! What caused this is a mystery to me. This font has probably survived a whole century without damage. I removed the encrustations on the inside with acetone and thoroughly cleaned the whole font with scrubbing milk, a brush and hot water, and then polished the collar. It was only half an hour later that the first crack appeared. You could clearly hear the bright, whipping sound of the cracking. By the next morning there were already 5 cracks! The glass must have had a lot of internal tension. I later had Mr Kühnel glue these cracks with thin UV glue. It is not at all advisable to lit this lamp; further cracks would have to be feared.

I replaced the supplied 11’’’ flat burner with a 12’’’ Kosmos burner because I wanted to put on a nice ball shade (souvenir from Ghent); however, a Vienna chimney would not fit in there!

Lamp Data

Added by me:
Burner, glass chimney and ball shade.

Cleaning and repairs:
Mr Kühnel glued the cracks at the glass font.

Lamp body:
Base of openwork, ornamental zinc casting, probably gilded, Ø 14 cm, on 4 feet, 12x12 cm.
Vase of three-part, hand-carved alabaster with fully plastic floral decoration, round, Ø 143 mm at the upper rim.
Pink opal glass font, decorated with white dots on top, round Ø 146 mm. After cleaning, cracked several times within a few hours!

Burner:
12’’’ Kosmos burner of an unknown producer.
Wick knob marked: A B.
Flat wick 57 mm.

Glass chimney:
12’’’ Kosmos chimney. Height 254 mm, Ø fitter 44 mm.
Marked: Cristal Recuit - 12''' (in an oval frame).

Shade and shade holder:
Ball shade, colourless glass, frosted, deep-etched vertical ornamentation, 2 brass rings. Without slip fitter.
Height 168 mm, Ø bottom opening 55 and bulge 176 mm.
Globe holder not necessary.

Lamp dimensions:
Height up to collar 21.3 cm, total height with chimney 51.0 cm.
Total weight 2900 g.