Live Auction 14193Robert de Balkany Rome & the Côte d'Azur
A PAIR OF ENGLISH BRONZE COLZA OIL LAMPS
Lot 139

A PAIR OF ENGLISH BRONZE COLZA OIL LAMPS

BY GARDNER'S, SECOND HALF 19TH CENTURY

Closed23 March 2017

Price Realised

GBP 25,000

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A PAIR OF ENGLISH BRONZE COLZA OIL LAMPS
BY GARDNER'S, SECOND HALF 19TH CENTURY
Each stem surmounted by a vase and issuing a single branch with cut-glass shade, on a later stop-fluted mahogany pedestal with green-painted base, one stamped 'E & J GARDNER MANUFACTURERS/ 453, STRAND LONDON', the other 'GARDNERS MANUFACTURERS/ CHARING CROSS LONDON', minor differences, fitted for electricity
The lamps: 22 ½ in. (57 cm.) high
The pedestals: 46 ½ in. (118 cm.) high; 16 ½ in. (42 cm.) square

Maitre et Mme Michard-Pelissier; sold Christie's, Paris, 27 June 2007, lots 20 & 21.

Specialist note

In 1783, the chemist Ami Argand (1759 - 1803) invented an oil lamp burner that burned ten-times brighter than a candle. The lamp primarily used rapeseed oil, which was particularly viscuous and could not be conducted with a wick. Thus the reservoir of oil was placed higher than in previous lamp designs so that the oil could travel through the effect of gravity. This burner became an immense success for the form as much as for the light it provided, but was soon replaced by the sinumbre oil lamp, which also produced a bright light and without a shadow. A number of lamps similar to the present lot are illustrated in J. Bourne and V. Brett, L'Art du Luminaire, Flammarion, Paris, pp. 132-137.