L.082

What an unusual lamp! The whole sculpture is made of hand-formed, multi-coloured painted ceramic: 2 naked boys with almost girlish faces sit on a tree, holding flowers. The tree, and especially the rocks under the tree, are richly decorated with flowers, all of which are still intact. The shaping and painting of the figures is a bit clumsy, whereas the flowers are nicely shaped. The ceramic has no signature. The whole sculpture could be the work of a small manufactory from East Germany.

Whether this ceramic sculpture was part of a kerosene/paraffin lamp in the past is questionable for me, because the connector or undermount of the font is made of very plain copper sheet, and that is very unusual for a real kerosene/paraffin lamp; normally one would expect a brass undermount.

The font is very nicely shaped and carefully cut by hand. I had to re-cement it, as the putty used was already very brittle and porous.

Here I have used a very beautiful, elaborately embossed and etched tulip shade from Cristallerie de Krasna S. Reich & Cie (stamped like this), which goes well with the slightly playful mood of the lamp.

Lamp Data

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

Cleaning and repairs:
The glass font re-plastered.

Lamp body:
Lamp body made of hand-formed and hand-painted ceramic (2 boys with bouquets of flowers on the tree); polychrome painted, base 14.5 x 12 cm, height of the sculpture 22.7 cm. Transition to the font made of copper sheet (probably new).
Font made of clear, beautifully shaped glass, hand-cut, 133 mm, firmly plastered, not removable.

Burner:
10’’’ Kosmos burner of Hugo Schneider, Leipzig.
Wick knob marked: Kosmos Brenner.
Flat wick 49 mm.

Glass chimney:
10’’’ Kosmos chimney. Height 251 mm, Ø fitter 39 mm.
Marked: Cristal Recuit - 10’’’ + crown in a circle.

Shade and shade holder:
Austrian tulip shade, marked: S. Reich Krasna Autriche, colourless glass, frosted and embossed, vertically bulbous subdivided, cameo-etched flower motifs, scalloped top rim.
Height 177 mm, Ø fitter 66 and bulge 145 mm.
70 mm globe shade holder for 10’’’ burners.

Lamp dimensions:
Height up to collar 36.5 cm, total height with chimney 65.0 cm.
Total weight 1850 g.