|
Miniature
Oil Lamp, S1-279 |
||
|
About 7 3/4" tall overall About 7" tall to top of shade Shade about 5" wide at widest point About 3 3/4" wide at base         |
From the
prolific factories of Consolidated Background
& History: By
1896, the already well-established and successful Consolidated Lamp and
Glass Company of Fostoria, Ohio had outgrown its facilities and thus
moved its entire operation to Coraopolis, Pa, a small town on the Ohio
River about 16 miles Northeast of Pittsburgh. As reported by Ann
McDonald ("Evolution of the Night Lamp"), a full page article on the
company in the trade journal "China, Glass & Lamps"
highlighted the company's
immense production capacity: The eqivalent of 31 glass furnace
"pots", plus all the necessary ancilliary departments and operations,
enabled the company to produce 2,334,200 lamps a year, or about "800
dozen lamps a day". In addition to its large line of night lamps,
the company also made full-sized lamps, sewing lamps and banquet
lamps. Managing this huge operation was a young man (in his early
30s) by the name of Nicolas Kopp. Born in Alsace Lorraine in
1865, Kopp came from a family, members of which, had been glass-makers
for generations. Only 17 when he came to the United States, he
already had considerable glass making expertise. Once in the
States, Kopp worked for several different glass companies building and
honing his skills. By the time he took over as manager of
Consolidated's Fostoria operation, he was well known for his designs,
stunning color effects and for his glass making innovations. He
was particularly recognized for his considerable skill in creating
beautifully colored glass. This lemon yellow cased
satin glass
"Basket" lamp is a Kopp design and an example
of his artistry. This lamp was advertised in "China, Glass &
Lamps" in July of 1894 (when Consolidated was still in Fostoria,
Ohio). The lamp came in several colors (rose, turquoise, canary
yellow and green in glossy cased glass and in blue and yellow with a
satin finish). Perhaps not one of Consolidated's most famous
lamps (those honors go the Santa Claus and Columbus figural lamps) or
one of its most common lamps (that's probably their "Daisy"--a lamp we
call "Cosmos" today or perhaps their "Sylvan" lamp), it is, we believe,
one of their prettiest lamps. It's heavily embossed basket
pattern on the bottom half of the font topped with arched ribs on the
upper half of the font and capped by a heavily ribbed umbrella style
shade, is greatly enhanced by its lovely yellow satin glass finish. Condition of
this lamp:
This lovely little lamp is in very good condition. The edges of the
shade have some very minor and typical flea-bites and two very small
chips. One of these (about 1/8" wide and about 1/32" high) is on the
inner edge of the shade fitter and primarily affects the inner cased
layer of yellow glass.. The second
is about 1/16" by 1/16" and is on the bottom and outer edge of the
shade fitter and is not very visible; it is evidenced as a shallow
depression in the surface of the glass. There is also about a 1/2" area
on the outside edge of the shade fitter which is a flat spot and,
again, is not very visible. As one runs one's finger along the outer
edge of the shade fitter, this flat spot can be felt. We could
find no other chips, cracks, damage or
defect on this lovely little lamp. The
brass hardware on this lamp has been polished. It consists of a
double ridged collar with no splits or cracks, a Nutmeg burner and a
three armed "tripod" for
holding the shade in place. The
burner thumb wheel is embossed with the words "P&A MFG CO" on its
front and "MADE IN U.S.A" on the reverse,and works
as it should to adjust the wick that is in this lamp. There is some
minor denting on the top of the wick dome and the burner gallery is
missing one prong (but still holds the clear glass chimney securely.}
The tripod
fits snugly over the burner gallery. The
lamp comes with a clear glass chimney. This chimney has a rough
cut edges, as made. There are a couple of flea-bites and a very
small chip on the bottom edge of the chimney. Measurements are below the first photo to
the left. Hulsebus,
in the "Price Guide for Miniature Lamps" rates this lamp as being
"scarce" (see the note below on our use of these ratings in eBay
listings). The data we've collected over the past 20+ years
indicates to us, however, that examples of this lamp in yellow cased
satin glass are quite a bit harder to find than the word "scarce"
implies. Since June of 2002, this is only the third example of
this lamp in this color and finish that we've seen offered on
eBay. And, lamps that shows up on eBay about once every 6 or 7
years
is much harder to find than the word "scarce" implies. This is
truly a beautiful little lamp and
a fine example of American glass artistry in the Victorian era. About the Use of Words Like "Scarce" and "Rare" When we see eBay listings which utilize words like "Scarce" and "Rare"--especially when those words are applied to items that we know to be extra-ordinarily common we find it disturbing. We realize that some eBayers, not having or knowing of a better way of assessing an item's scarcity, use these terms quite subjectively and frequently based on their own personal experience. They simply don't know whether an item is common, scarce or rare. We take two steps to describe the scarcity of a lamp. First, we only use the words "Scarce", "Rare", "Very Rare", "Very Very Rare" and "Extremely Rare" if the item in question is judged to be so by an acknowledged outside and independent source. For miniature lamps, we use the ratings in Marjorie Hulsebus 2006 edition of the "Price Guide for Miniature Lamps". Marjorie's ratings are also somewhat subjective (they are based on the collective view of a panel of 12 experienced miniature lamps collectors--we were members of that panel), but were at least arrived at independently of the sale or offering of any particular lamp. We don't always agree with the Price Guides ratings but if we disagree, we will still quote the guide's rating and then provide the reason why we don't agree. Second, since June of 2002, we have collected and recorded data on the offering of over 64,000 listed miniature lamps on eBay and over 8,300 lamps offered at selected live auctions (ones which we attended or from which we were able to get reliable data). We've reviewed many tens of thousands of eBay listings. From among those, we identified the ones that are listed in the standard reference books and recorded basic information (identifying features, condition, auction end-date, etc.) on each. When the auction ends we go back and record whether the lamp sold or not and for how much. We keep all of this data in an online database and make the database available free of charge to members of the Night Light Club and to others who have requested access. We don't see every listed miniature lamp that's offered on eBay, but we estimate that we see more than 85-90% of them. When we quote the Price Guide's scarcity rating for a given lamp, we generally also provide information, from our database, on the number of times during the period we've collected data that we've seen that lamp offered on eBay. And it's this data that allows us to substantiate, refine or, at times, to respectfully disagree with the rating in the Price Guide. All rights reserved. The contents of this listing are protected by U. S. copyright law. The use of substantial portions of this listing verbatim or with only inconsequential changes without the express written consent of the authors is prohibited. Please contact us if you wish to use any portion of this listing in your own listings or for other purposes. Our objective is to have happy,
satisfied customers. We
will work with you to satisfactorily resolve any problems. Feel free to
ask any questions prior to bidding. We try to answer all
questions promptly. Just click on eBay's "Ask seller a question"
link above to send us an email through eBay. Please bid only if you intend to honor your bid with payment. All items are sold "As Is". We do our best to describe all items accurately. However, mistakes and oversights can occur. Returns will be accepted within 14 days if item is found to be not as described. In general refunds will be given as money back and will include the original bid amount and initial shipping costs (but not the return shipping cost). Refunds will be given once the item is received and verified to be in the same condition as when it was sold. Shipping Information eBay's shipping calculator should show the correct shipping charges. We charge only the actual postage/insurance costs incurred. All items shipped are insured. We do combine multiple purchases to save you on shipping costs. If you win more than one of our items, contact us for revised and reduced shipping costs. If you overpay for shipping, or if we inadvertently overcharge you for shipping, we will refund the overage. (If we underestimate the shipping costs, which occasionally happens, we absorb the additional costs). We ship using the United State Postal Service and wrap our items as securely as we can. Information for International Buyers International buyers not using Paypal, please use a form of payment denominated in U.S. dollars. We generally ship items internationally using either "eBay Standard International Delivory" or "First Class International" mail, depending on the size and value of the shipment. If we can ship the item for less than the eBay quoted shipping price, we will notify you and refund any overpayment. We mark international shipments as "antique" (when the item is in fact an antique) since most countries do not levy import tariffs on antique items. Interested
in learning more about miniature lamps? Want to meet other
miniature lamp collectors? Contact us and we'll arrange to get
you information about the Night Light Club. |
|
 |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|