© Arto Hanciogullari und T. Tsekyi Thür

Lamps Made of Porcelain and Glass

Considering that Great Britain was probably the richest country of the 19th century and that, as a result, financially very potent and tastefully very refined clientele had formed, who were very sophisticated in their sense of style, it is no wonder that excellent ceramic and porcelain manufacturers established themselves in this country quite early. Hence there were also very high quality ceramic and porcelain lamps, especially in the late 19th century.

In the next picture I will describe my British porcelain lamps together with two glass lamps.

 

Lamps made of porcelain and glass
From left: L.205 and L.252 (both by Moore Brothers) – L.215 – L.185 / L.358 – L.186 – L.113

 

The first two lamps are from the famous porcelain manufacturer Moore Brothers. Moore Brothers had created a completely unique style with putti and plants. The porcelain pieces from this manufactory are therefore quickly identifiable. In L.205, 3 putti are combined with Christmas cactus, whereas in L.252, 4 putti are combined with orchids.

The miniature lamp L.215 captivates with its rich floral ornamentation and with its beautiful combination of tulip shade and chimney, which complement each other very nicely in colour. This lamp is one of my smallest lamps and is probably designed for children's rooms.

The lamp L.185 belongs to rare types of lamps from Great Britain, because it is based on a French Moderator lamp made of porcelain, which at some point was converted into an elegant kerosene/paraffin lamp with a British crystal font and a Duplex burner.

An elegant, richly decorated lamp is L.358 with three caryatids supporting a painted font. Here again the typical stoneware base is encountered. It is interesting to note that the caryatids and the font are from different porcelain manufacturers.

The last two lamps in the above photo are glass lamps. L.186 is made of finely painted glass with a very rare round burner by Silber Light Co. The tulip shade I put on it is also quite unusual. L.113 is made of light green milk glass, sparsely painted, and is very reminiscent of the long-necked Moderator lamps from France. 

 

Ceramic Lamps

In addition to beautiful porcelain lamps, Great Britain produced equally beautiful, high-quality lamps made of ceramics. The rich painting and decoration of these lamps is equally admirable.

 

 

Ceramic lamps
From left: L.332 (Wedgwood) – L.097 – L.105 (Winkle & Co.) / L.271 (Taylor, Tunnicliffe & Co.) – L.238 (Hinks + Doulton) – L.094 – L.247

 

L.332 has a lamp body from the very famous British manufacturer Wedgwood. Here, white figures of Greek antiquity are applied on a blue background. This type of ceramic is a Wedgwood invention and is called "jasperware". A similar blue Vianne tulip shade completes the lamp.

L.097 is richly painted with flowers and insects in relief on a concave-cylindrical vase. The base and the upper end of the vase are made of cast zinc, which leads me to believe that this lamp is probably a German export.

The lamp L.105 has a relatively modern looking vase with the "Canton" decoration by F. Winkle & Co. This pattern can also be found on various other products by this company. The Duplex burner by Messenger is silver-plated.

L.271 consists of a vase by Taylor, Tunnicliffe & Co. in Staffordshire (very typical with its specific-rough surface) with three hand-painted, airy landscape scenes. This lamp also has a stoneware base.

The large lamp L.238 is a highlight in my collection, as this tall, almost majestic lamp (signed by Hinks & Son at the bottom of the iron weight) bears beautiful ceramic pieces from the renowned British ceramics manufacturer Royal Doulton. The Hinks burner was made for the French dealer Boler.

L.094 captivates with a Japanese-like flower painting combined with very sculptured applied birds on a strictly cylindrical vase. The ball shade with bird depictions suits the lamp perfectly.

The last lamp, L.247, is a design of mine. Here I have combined a British, elegantly shaped lamp vase with an 18’’’ Sonnenbrenner by R. Ditmar and its brass font. The ball shade is again by Vianne.