Antique Vaseline Glass Little Jewel Miniature Oil Lamp

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Vaseline (or Uranium) Glass "Little Jewel" Miniature Oil Lamp Fluoresces Brightly Under "Black" Light "Little Jewel" Miniature Oil Lamp, S1-044 About 7 1/4" tall overall About 3 1/4" tall to top of collar (neck of font) About 3" wide in diameter not including finger handle; about 4" wide including finger handle Figure 44 in the First Smith Book Background & History: Even though this lamp fluoresces quite brightly under ultra-violet ("black") light, some purists might argue that it isn't true Vaseline glass because it is more green than yellow under normal light. According to Tony Hayter, a British glass expert, uranium oxide in its natural state is a brilliant yellow color and was thus used to impart its color to glass. Hayter notes that t is some evidence that uranium salts were added to glass as far back as Roman times, but that most consider its first use to be in the 1830s by Josef Riedel in Bohemia. Around that same time, glassmakers in England were experimenting with using uranium as a glass coloring agent and Hayter reports that a pair of uranium glass candlesticks were given to "the Queen" in 1836 (we're not sure what Queen that was since Victoria's reign began a year later in 1837, but perhaps it was the little known Adelaide, wife of the short-reigned William IV). But, back to Vaseline glass. The uranium in the glass mixture is what causes Vaseline glass to fluoresce under "black" light. Other coloring agents could also have been added to the glass to create different colors. Iron oxide (rust) added to the glass along with the uranium yielded a green glass rather than a yellow glass and it is quite likely that this lamp has some iron oxide content in addition to the uranium oxide. The lamp itself is shown in Frank & Ruth Smith's book "Miniature Lamps" in Figure 44. Beyond describing the lamp briefly (i. e., it is found in both clear and green glass, is embossed with the name "Little Jewel", has an applied handle and came with an Acorn burner), the Smith's don't give any additional information about it, and it isn't covered in any of our other references. However, we can make some educated guesses about this lamp based primarily on its internal brass collar. This collar was patented by the U. S. Glass Company in 1911. The company advertised within the glass & lamp making industry that they would vigorously protect their rights to this patent and that henceforth they would use it on all of their lamps (McDonald, "Evolution of the Night Lamp). Thus we'd guess that this lamp was made sometime around 1911 and that it was made by the U. S. Glass Company. Another interesting characteristic of this lamp is the style of the text in which the name is embossed on the lamp. It seems like a stylized Far Eastern text and is similar to the style of text on the "Handy" lamp (S1-5 Left) which has the same internal collar . This suggests that possibly both the Handy and the Little Jewel were made by the same manufacturer and probably in the same era (although manufacturers did copy each other's designs at times.) Condition of this lamp: This fluorescent green Little Jewel is in excellent condition with no visible defects. The lamp was made in a two-part mold (the mold lines are clearly visible) but it appears as if the top portion of the neck of the lamp with its internal brass collar was applied to the lamp after it was removed from the mold. A fully functional Acorn burner with an old wick screws tightly into the collar. The wick wheel is embossed "THE P & A MFG CO ACORN". A clear glass chimney, frosted for a bit more than 2/3rds its height, also in excellent condition, completes this lamp. Measurements are provided below the photo to the left. One of the nice things about this sturdy little l... read more

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