Hi there, just curious if anyone knows anything about this lamp . It has no signature/insignia. I've tried everything from fabrications, to keywords like 'man holding caduceus', 'wire spool', 'gear shaft'.. you name it. Any info is appreciated, thanks
Since the top device is the symbol for medicine and the others are industrial, a lamp depicting science and industry. Maybe a newel post lamp for an academic building? Was able to find this one on Pinterest.... Listed as a French newel post lamp but no other info. Of course the link to the original source was no longer active.
Nice find, Brad.. didn't come across that one, just this https://www.ebay.com/itm/Pair-Antiq...10Eo3hLiqo0N8iYtMCSrPe6n6yDIjLsyKMhTBggdile4E and it's still quite different from the one I posted. Wanna thank you guys for your feedback. ''Naval Industry'' fits in , from what I could find, in relation to when the ' caduceus' symbol was adopted.. I'm assuming the the gears and shaft featured the on the lamp represent a ship. These quotes are from Wiki page ''in 1871, the Surgeon General designated the caduceus as the seal of the Marine Hospital Service (destined to become the U.S. Public Health Service in 1912). Gershen states that the change was for aesthetic reasons] whereas Friedlander states the caduceus was adopted by the Marine Hospital Service "because of its relationship with merchant seamen and the maritime industry" ''after World War I the caduceus was employed as an emblem by both the Army Medical Department and the Navy Hospital Corps''
Using French Spelter and Newall Post Lamp I pull up a lot of similar type lamps with the lights attached as towering flowers. If selling I think those are your key words to use in the title. https://www.bing.com/images/search?...-32&sk=&cvid=30110F8BE52C418DB2AB2A7D8FC43725
When I saw the lamp all I could think was they were mask makers.(LOL) Two people holding up a caduceus and standing on what look like spools of thread. Industry and science enlightening the world? I'll bet there was an original statue somewhere, famous for a while, and they based the lamp off of it. Columbian Exhibition maybe, or the St Louis World's Fair?
I read it as Brad reads it, as an allegorical composition celebrating science & industry, with presumably medicine above all. Confusion over the herald's staff of Hermes/Mercury (also the goddess Iris), with its wings & 2 ribbons, & the simple staff of the master physician Asklepios/Aesculepius (& daughter Hygieia), with its single coiled snake, occurred a long time ago. The caduceus is not properly a symbol for the medical profession, but it has come to be so. It's use is hardly limited to the US Marines. Your physician may well have one on her medical school diploma. What else is in the composition? I see a wheel & maybe a forge?
