Alabamy Bound

[Gothichome]

James, yes it is, maybe into early 1900’s the seam in the body gives it a way as being blown into a split mould. The brass fitter with internal thread will be cemented in place, the burner is a lower grade standard single wick, maybe an Eagle, star or one of the other lower end burners. It originally had a round shade probably to match the painting.
These lamps are generally referred to as parlour lamps and some times came as a pair.
For $10 you did well.

[Manalto]

For $10 you did well.

Thanks, Ron. I posted this because I was hoping to complete the lamp so that it is in usable condition and reasonably true to its era. Do you have any further description besides "round" regarding the globe and chimney? I realize there is little hope in replacing the original, but it might be nice to mimic the style of the day. For example, if someone in 1901 broke the top globe, what would be available to replace it?

[awomanwithahammer]

James, I think this is probably what it looked like:

[Manalto]

This is my work-around:



Still needs a chimney. A white hobnail shade was also available but since the base is white, I thought it might be advisable to not try to match it, and clear will throw more light. Did I do okay?

[Gothichome]

James, that looks very presentable, the original shades were often broken just from every day use and miss matched replacements were better than condemning the whole lamp. Find a brass ring edge for the top of your globe, it will prevent you chipping the shade lifting the chimney for lighting.
Your chimney should be a couple of inches above your shade. Do not use the chimney with the frill ( I think they look tacky and not period correct, but that’s just me) find one with a polished top edge. Here is a trick for finding original period hand blown chimneys. Look for the polished ends pick it up and rotate it gently in your hand at the area just above the bulge were it tapers into the top of the chimney, if you feel waves or bulges or inconsistencies as you rotate it you will have a proper period chimney. It works even better if you have a cotton rag or even a piece of Kleenex it your felling hand, it seems to amplify the inconsistencies, i can’t explain why, it just does.

[Manalto]

Thanks for the tip, Ron. I'm lucky to have a lamp guy right at the other end of my street in Mobile, because I haven't a clue how I would measure the fitter for a chimney, with those bent-wire supports. I'm not tempted by a pie-crust (or frosted) chimney anyway. Just a plain old clear one is fine; this is an oil lamp that will get used in one of our occasional, but inevitable, power losses on the Gulf Coast.

I think it will look lovely when the chimney is in place and with the soft glow of an oil flame on a chilly Alabama winter night. [CUE MUSIC: "Stars Fell on Alabama"]

https://youtu.be/R-TGmc4CZUU

[Gothichome]

One of my all original lamps, this one is signed with under glaze painting, has a Success round wick burner.

You can see the brass trim ring on top of the shade.
If you do get it lit, you be one up on me, I have never lit any of my original lamps. You will make Mick smile with a pic of it lit.

[Manalto]

Your all-original, signed lamp with the under glaze painting and Success round wick is quite grand and a fine antique. One advantage that I can claim of my old cobbled-together, unsigned lamp with exposed ornamentation and low-end, unbranded wick is that I'm not worried about a mishap when lighting it. I'll be cautious, of course, (and will try to track down a brass ring for the shade) but this fixture needs to earn its keep during a power outage or provide an old-timey glow at Christmas time. To my eye, it still has an edge over a plastic LED lantern, or even a "railroad" type of lantern. Come to think of it, those lanterns are nice, and portable - maybe I should pick up one of those too.

[Gothichome]

James, an all original, signed, underglaze painted lamp with Success burner costs considerably more than your $10 investment. With the crash of Victorian antique prices I probably would have been better off with cobbled together lamps.
Taking the risk of highjacking your thread James, I would like to interject a comment on Phil’s query on why the hight of his original wall trim seems so pleasing to the eye. This is because of the golden ratio 3:5 rule. A stripped down version states that designs in architecture (and almost every thing) can be broken down to 5 units (the rule of five), any change in a plane at any of the one fifth increments will naturally be pleasing to the eye. The wainscoting in Gothic home is 2/5ths of the hight of the walls as an example. Phil’s original A&C trim higher up the wall is guess what exactly 3/5ths the hight of his wall. It has something to do with the inner workings of the grey matter between our ears.

[Manalto]

Hurricane Sally is Alabamy-bound. Projections now say it will be a category 3 by the time it makes landfall on Tuesday.