Lot 131
131
A MID-VICTORIAN BRASS WALL LANTERN
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VA… Read more
A MID-VICTORIAN BRASS WALL LANTERN

MID-19TH CENTURY

Details
A MID-VICTORIAN BRASS WALL LANTERN
MID-19TH CENTURY
Of hexagonal form, surmounted by a frieze decorated with husks and sun rays, with later bevelled glass plates enclosing a three-branch candelabrum, with wall bracket and later glass dish cover, originally fitted for gas, now converted for electricity
25½ in. (65 cm.) high (without dish attachment); 17¼ in. (44 cm.) diameter
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

During the middle of the 19th century many large houses' gas supplies were installed and lanterns such as this one would have been connected to the main gas supply. This lamp's bracket is fixed, whereas other lamps' brackets were fitted with cup and ball joints, allowing the lamp to be moved from side to side as a flexible source of light. An example of such a lamp is illustrated in the Temple Newsam Country House Studies exhibition catalogue number 4, Country House Lighting, Leeds, 1992, p.102, fig. 85. This gas wall bracket dating to circa 1870 was owned by William, Third Marquess of Exeter, at Burghley House, Stamford. Burghley's gas supply was installed during the middle of the nineteenth century. Gas brackets such as this one and the current lot provided a strong source of light and would usually have been positioned at either side of the chimneypiece or over a sideboard.

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