L.027

This lamp belongs to a series of French sculptural lamps, which consist of a more or less naturalistic figure of a large bird, mostly a heron, in the middle of a group of plants with flowers and leaves. In rare cases, the bird even stands on a turtle. These lamps are popular among collectors. They were probably marketed around 1900.

The lamp here impresses with the beautiful combination of the heron with an S-shaped curved plant stem with 3 flowers and 3 leaves. The heron stands on a platform with many leaf motifs. The plant stem is the carrier of the glass font. The flowers and leaves are painted in different enamel colours using the Champlevé technique and soldered to the plant stem. The complete lamp body is made of cast brass. The heron is painted.

The lamp was pretty dark when I got it. Brass was partly tarnished, partly dirty with kerosene/paraffin residues. I carefully sanded off the surface of the base, I was able to clean the remaining parts very well with steel wool. A leaf was loose; I soldered it back on in the right place.

The glass font is probably a product by Cristallerie de Clichy, as it consists of the Clichy-typical, multi-coloured speckled glass. Interestingly, the burner is a 12-line Reform Kosmos burner for the Deutsche Reichsbahn (= German Imperial Railways); but the thread below is made for 10-line collars. The burner was probably added afterwards; I can't imagine that these playful French lamps were used on the Deutsche Reichsbahn.

I completed the lamp with a 12’’’ Kalthoff chimney (rare to find) and a painted French tulip shade.

Lamp Data

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

Cleaning and repairs:
A brass leaf soldered back on in the right place.

Lamp body:
Ornamental cast brass base with leaf motifs, square, approx. 16 x 16 cm. The rest of the lamp body consists of a 3-dimensional, painted heron figure and an S-shaped curved plant stem with flowers and leaves on it, all in cast brass.
Glass font probably by Clichy made of dark green and red speckled glass, Ø 113 mm.

Burner:
12’’’ Reform Kosmos burner of C.J. Giessing, Nuremberg.
Wick knob marked: Logo of Giessing.
Wick tube marked: J.C.Giessing Nürnberg - D.R. 12’’’.
Flat wick 58 mm.
 
Glass chimney:
12’’’ Kalthoff chimney. Height 267 mm, Ø fitter 44 mm.
Marked: Verre Hygienique - Cristal 12’’’ Importé.

Shade and shade holder:
French tulip shade, frosted glass, greenish below, colourless above, painted flowers, fluted top rim.
Height 141 mm, Ø fitter 67 and top rim 197 mm.
70 mm globe holder for 11’’’ flat burners, adjusted to the burner.

Lamp dimensions:
Height up to collar 37.3 cm, total height with chimney 68.0 cm.
Total weight 2140 g.