SCARCE" Antique Miniature Pewter & Glass Oil Lamp

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"Scarce" Frosted & Clear Glass Miniature Oil Lamp, S1-127 Frosted & Clear Glass Miniature Pedestal Lamp, S1-127 About 8" tall to top of shade About 5" tall to top of collar Base about 3" in diameter at widest point Shade about 4 1/4" wide at bottom " Glows Under "Black" Light Demonstrating Age Background & History: This lamp is shown in Frank & Ruth Smith's book "Miniature Lamps" in Figure 127 and described as: "Pewter pedestal base; clear glass embossed ribbed panel font and shade; Acorn burner; 8 1/2" high". The Smiths do not say anything about the lamp being found in a frosted glass version, but Marge Hulsebus (in the "Price Guide for Miniature Lamps") does: she rates the clear glass version of the lamp, as shown in the Smith book as "Common" and this frosted glass version as "Scarce". We've discovered that both versions are pretty hard-to-find. Over the past 4 1/2 years we've collected and recorded data on the sale of over 26,000 listed miniature lamps on eBay (and another 2500 or so at selected live auctions). In all that time and amongst all those lamps, we've only seen 2 complete examples of this lamp (both of them were made of frosted glass like this one). (We have seen 11 bases without their shades; five of those were clear glass and six were frosted). Since we haven't been able to find any information about this lamp beyond what's in the Smith book and Hulsebus' price guide, we wondered about its age. Certain characteristics of the lamp such as its wide-mouth screw-on collar, tin shade holder and tin Acorn burner might make one wonder if the lamp was truly old. To check on this lamp's age, we viewed it under ultra-violet ("black") light and it did fluoresce a lovely yellow-green color (actually more yellow than green which is somewhat unusual). The fact that it glows under black light dates the lamp to before 1915. The glow is caused by manganese dioxide which was added to the molten glass mixture to counteract the undesirable coloring effects of iron impurities in the raw material from which the glass was made. This was necessary in order to create clear, colorless glass. After the outbreak of World War I in Europe, manganese became unavailable and U. S. glass makers switched to other decolorizers (such as arsenic and selenium). Thus clear glass which glows under black light can be presumed to have been made prior to about 1915. We presume that the manufacturer used a silver colored collar and tin burner and tripod to co-ordinate the hardware with the pewter (or at least pewter-colored) base. The Smith's mention these screw-on collars as being used on some old lamps, but they don't provide any range of dates in which they were used. So, we know that the lamp is old and that it's pretty hard to find a complete example. It's also obvious, at least to us, that this is a very attractive lamp; t's something quite appealing about the combination of the frosted and clear glass panels and the lamp does have a Victorian gracefulness. Condition of this lamp: In addition, this lamp is in very good condition. T are some very minor and inconspicuous flea-bites on the top inner edge of the shade, but beyond that t are no discernible chips, cracks or other defects. The glass font is securely attached to the "pewter" base. The silver colored collar is in fine condition. A tin Acorn burner screws tightly into the collar. The wick wheel (which is not embossed with anything) adjusts the the wick that is in this lamp as it should. The tin shade holder (or tripod) fits securely around the burner gallery. Measurements are provided below the first photo to the left. All-in-all, this is a fine example of a pretty and pretty hard to find little lamp from... read more

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