Kerosene lamps
pewter · glass

Kerosene lamps: Until 1780-1790, lamps produced a feeble light, a lot of smoke and an intense smell, especially if fish oil was burnt; not many innovations had been made since ancient times, in fact. The industrial revolution encouraged the search for new fuels, especially good quality and moderately priced oil for lamps, in order to satisfy the increasing demand for light that people needed in order to work and read after sunset. The "heart" of a kerosene lamp is its burner. The flame is generated by the combustion of the oxygen contained in the air; studies and empirical testing led to the production of models that could adjust the amount of oxygen fed to the flame. The holes at the base and around the burners, which often reproduce decorative patterns, were real and proper air inlets without which the flame would have gone out for lack of oxygen. The glass chimney has two functions: the first is to create a rising current of air, the second to protect the flame from going out by accident. The shape of the chimney changes according to the burner it protects. The top of the "Matador" burner, for example, is fitted with an air spreader that improves the distribution of the air around the flame. It has a belly chimney to prevent the flame from getting too close to the glass and breaking it.

Our kerosene lamps use "Matador" (patented in 1895 by the German company Enrich und Graetz) and "kosmos" (patented in 1865 by the German company Wild & Wessel in the UK) burners.