Oil Lamps
Also called kerosene lamps, paraffin lamps.
Typical period: 1830–1890
Domestic lighting between roughly 1860 and rural electrification, so they exist in enormous numbers. The burner is where the dating and the value are, and it is the part most often replaced.
What you are looking at
A glass or metal fount holding fuel, a burner with a wick and a thumbwheel, and a glass chimney above it. Often with a decorated glass shade.
How to date it
- The burner: maker's names and patent dates are stamped on the collar or the thumbwheel and are the most datable element.
- A rough pontil scar on the fount base indicates hand finishing and an earlier piece.
- Mould seams on the fount tell you it was moulded, which is the norm after roughly 1860.
- Whale oil and burning fluid burners predate kerosene and have narrow twin tubes rather than a flat wick.
Spotting a reproduction
- Modern reproduction lamps are common, and the giveaway is usually the burner — new burners have no patent stamps and a lighter, thinner thumbwheel.
- Chimneys and shades are routinely married from other lamps. A matched original set is unusual.
- Electrified conversions destroy most of the value and are frequently reversed badly.
What it is worth
Plain clear glass lamps are extremely common and worth little. Value concentrates in coloured glass, art glass shades, named makers and complete original combinations of fount, burner, chimney and shade.
Confused with
The burner. An unmarked, thin, modern burner on an otherwise convincing lamp is the usual arrangement.
Questions about this
How do you date oil lamps?
The burner: maker's names and patent dates are stamped on the collar or the thumbwheel and are the most datable element. A rough pontil scar on the fount base indicates hand finishing and an earlier piece.
How do you spot a reproduction?
Modern reproduction lamps are common, and the giveaway is usually the burner — new burners have no patent stamps and a lighter, thinner thumbwheel.
Are oil lamps valuable?
Plain clear glass lamps are extremely common and worth little. Value concentrates in coloured glass, art glass shades, named makers and complete original combinations of fount, burner, chimney and shade.