L.173

An unexpected find in eBay Great Britain. A zinc cast lamp by Wild & Wessel (W&W no. 1824) with a Hinks collar and Hinks duplex burner. It is nevertheless illustrated in the W&W Anniversary Catalogue (with a larger Central Vulkan burner). Production around 1885-1890. Presumably the own collar was replaced with a bayonet collar in the UK (or the lamp was exported there without the collar). It is my only W&W lamp with a duplex burner.

When I picked up the lamp, I noticed that it was very crooked. I had to slide a 10 mm high cap under one foot to get the lamp straight. The lamp was crooked at the narrowest point between the vase and the base, probably because it had fallen on one foot. Anyway, I could never have corrected the damage with hammer blows. So I sawed and cut off the base and vase at this narrowest point. I cemented a precisely measured copper tube into the gap so that the vase placed on top of it was then in a horizontal position. I then glued the vase and the base together with Stabilit and also connected them with a threaded rod. After sanding off the glue residue and bronzing the lamp, the repair is hardly visible.

The supplied Hinks burner remains on the lamp, of course. However, I have added a duplex chimney with a brand. A recently acquired tulip shade from UK of recent manufacture was then put on as a shade.

The original bronzing as brass paint was still clearly visible, but it had darkened considerably and was rubbed off in places. So I re-bronzed the lamp with Or classique. I painted the 6 large and 6 small bulbous medallions with a dark brown colour mixture and then polished them.

Now the lamp has returned to its home with a good Hinks burner as a souvenir…

Lamp Data

Added by me:
Glass chimney and tulip shade.

Cleaning and repairs:
See above.

Lamp body:
Lamp body of ornamental zinc casting. Base on three feet, side length 18 cm.
Vase with 6 large, bulbous medallions and small angel faces, Ø 172 mm. Vase and base not separable. Lamp very crooked.
Drop-in font of colourless clear glass, puttied under the zinc cast lid, Ø 158 mm. Bayonet collar marked: Hinks & Son's Patent.

Burner:
Duplex burner of Hinks & Sons, Birmingham, with gallery raiser, extinguisher and permanently mounted globe holder.
Wick knob marked: Hinks’s Duplex No.2. Ceramic inlay.
Cap marked: Hinks & Son Patent.
Two flat wicks, each 27 mm.

Glass chimney:
Duplex chimney with oval bulge. Height 247 mm, Ø fitter 64 mm.
Marked: Sphinx - (Fire)proof + picture of sphinx.

Shade and shade holder:
Tulip shade, frosted glass with transparent motifs, reddish purple slightly iridescent on top, colourless on bottom, fluted top rim.
Height 180 mm, Ø fitter 101 and top rim 185 mm.
100 mm globe holder for Duplex burners, fixed part of the burner. Marked: Rd.65891 (dated 1887).

Lamp dimensions:
Height up to collar 26.5 cm, total height with chimney 55.2 cm.
Total weight 4260 g.

Repair of the crooked lamp
From left: Considerable misalignment - After correction - Detached base with inserted copper tube - Glued area cleanly sanded - Additionally inserted threaded rod