Old oil lamp, age?, glass type?, etc...

Help, no lamp knowledge here
What is this glass called?
The cherub appears to be mounted on painted metal. The cherub might be pot metal (magnet does not stick), I'm not sure, but it looks like it once had gold on it. Age?
No markings, about 15" high.
The top burner looks newer than the lamp, so I don't know if it's original. But, if I list it, I would like to ditch (donate) that top part, because it would just make shipping costs much higher. Would that be wrong to do?
What type of top would this have had? Anything else I should know, LOL??!! Sorry for all the questions, and thanks for your help.

 

Hi,
Take the burner off but do not ditch it it can be packed with the lamp. It looks like it had a normal glass chimney and a large (gone with the wind) type of outer shade. Are you sure the base is metal and not painted slate?
greg

 

We'll I'll be darned, I took it out in the light to get a better look at it, and yes it is slate. Thanks Greg for your help and advice!

 

Interesting and attractive lamp.

Perhaps it's just the photo angle, but the toes on that cherub are so long they look positively prehensile.

 

Here is some info on Plume and Atwood burners.

http://www.thelampworks.com/lw_companies_p&a.htm

I did look through the only book I have on oil lamps without seeing yours but I'll look again just to be sure. They call them figural lamps if that helps.

 

Lol, yourturntolove it, thank you!
Thanks sis, that is very helpful and appreciated

 

This figural spelter oil lamp dates c1860s-1880s. I have several of them. I don't have this particular figure. At the moment we are on the road sooo don't have any of my lamp resources. We won't be home until late Sunday. Monday will be the soonest I can give you more info on this lamp. If home I probably could narrow down the time frame for you. I might be able to find it in one of the many reproduced oil lamp catalogs. Do not date this lamp or really most oil lamps by the burner, especially not a P & A burner. It was common for burners to be replaced, changed periodically. Also it is a common practice today to replace burners with the oldest working burner one can find. P & A burners were and are today the most common burners. They are still being produced today. One of the best way to date an oil lamp is by the collar. Usually oil lamp collars are original and different types were made and used at different times. A picture of the lamp at eye level would help on IDing. Many makers made these spelter figural lamps from Bradley & Hubbard to Miller, Ives, etc... Following is a link to pics of a few of my mother's along with info on this type of lamp
The pics are all thumbnails
http://home.earthlink.net/~filearchives/lamps/spelter/spelterfiglamps.html

--- Susan

 

Oh Susan that is so kind of you to give me all of that wonderful help! Great lamps on your link too!! Wow.
I will get a better picture tomorrow. Do I take the burner off and get a picture of where the top is? Is that the collar?
Thanks again Susan

 

Hi Susan, here are some new pics. I wasn't sure where to get the pictures of...is this correct? There is 1 of the top, where the burner was removed, and 1 under the glass. Thanks again for your time, and have a safe trip.

 

Well, I've looked through my sources with no luck on spotting your particular figural spelter stem lamp. I thought I could find it for know of several child with flowers or animals figurals. Sooooo all I can say about it at this moment is that it dates 1865-1880s probably closer to the earlier side 1865-1870s because of 1. the collar, 2. the font, and 3. the base.

1. This brass wide plate type of collar first appeared in the late 1860s and 1870s. Scroll down about 1/2 way:
http://www.thelampworks.com/lw_info_collars.htm

2. The font appears to be an earlier roughed by lathe cut-to-clear circles or frosted with engraved circles. Hard for me to tell without feeling it.

3. Soapstone, slate, and marble bases tended to be used earlier than the iron bases though iron bases were used in the 1870s.

Nowwww, there is always a good possibility the font and base are not original to the stem. I have bought just stems that no longer had their original fonts or bases and then assembled them with appropriate parts from remnants of other lamps.

The font appears, not sure from these pics, to have a brass bottom cover, brass connector, and a narrow brass base ring. The stem appears to have remnants of the original bronze finish.

Who made this lamp, I don't know. Bradley & Hubbard was probably the most prolific manufacturer of these lamps. Other manufacturers were Ives, Pipkin & Brooks, Edward Miller, etc… even the Boston and Sandwich Glass Co. and Dietz manufactured them. Some of them were listed in catalogs by more than one manufacturer.

The collar definitely is not original to the lamp for it was manufactured by P & A after 1955 for their manufacturing moved from Waterbury, CT to Thomaston in 1955.

As someone else suggested, when listing this lamp take pics of the lamp ***without*** the burner; however, I would include the burner for a freebie incentive. The tripod shade holder probably isn't necessary. It can easily be detached from the burner. Most people would probably use a ball shade on one of these lamps or just a chimney. Some use a petticoat shade on a chimney. Back in the 1940s and 50s my mother bought many of these figural spelter stem lamps in various conditions. She refitted them, painted them and had handmade shades made for them. She gave several away as wedding and baby shower gifts.

I appreciate the last pics you posted of the lamp showing a close up of the collar area; however, a level, straight-on, pic of the **whole** lamp is really a must for lamp collectors to see. Not a pic looking down on the lamp stem like your 1st pic. I really haven't a good idea what the bottom half of the stem looks like. Also in listing a good level pic of the back of the lamp and a straight-on view of the font should be included. Do include measurements of the lamp. The measurement should be from the *collar* to the base.

I have included a scan of one of the pages of these figural spelter lamps from a reprint of the 1883-1884 Bradley & Hubbard Mfg. Co. catalog. This will give you an idea of the type of shades used in the 1880s.

--- Susan

Sorry, this pic is really too wide for an online message as it is 800px wide X 562px high, 60 KB; however, to see and read easily it needs to be this size.

 

Wow! Susan! Thank you ever so much much all your time and thorough help. I truly appreciate the education.
I will get it cleaned up today (hopefully), and get new pictures. Can't thank you enough.

 

You're welcome. Please, tell me when you get it listed. I'd love to keep track of it.

Many many of these spelter figurine lamps are listed with erroneous info. Most list them with the burner maker as the manufacturer. Very few burner manufacturer also made lamps. Nowww some lamp manufacturers did make burners for their lamps. These were usually central draft burner lamps that needed special fonts.

There is an example now on eBay of an erroneous listed figurine lamp. The seller is saying the manufacturer is the burner maker. It has a 1950 to 1990 ABCO burner. Any ABCO marked burner is later than 1950. The seller is saying it is by American Brass Co. The lamp stem and bass with different font is pictured in Barlow & Kaiser's The Glass Industry in Sandwich, vol. 2, p. 218. The description says several of these were in the Russell & Irvin Manufacturing Co. 1865 catalog and in the Boston & Sandwich Glass Co. catalog "thought to date from the mid-1860's." The info implies only the font was by Boston & Sandwich. What an attraction for this lamp sale if the seller could have added something like appeared in Boston and Sandwich catalogs of the 1860s.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Han...=Antiques_Decorative_Arts&hash=item27ec87dc83

--- Susan

 

I'm glad you posted your lamp tyeldom, it reminded me that I have one somewhere here - will have to dig it out.
Amazing amount of information on these lamps you have shared Susan, thank-you!

 

Thanks again Susan, you really are amazing and so very helpful! I will let you know when it's listed.
Cxgirl, that's funny, and I know what you mean. I bought this at an estate sale months ago, and it's been sitting on a shelf in my living room ever since. I've walked by it 47 times a day, and just now getting around to doing something with it.
I see posts on the board all the time that remind me....hey I have something like that, and need to go look for it, hahaha.

 

Tye, just got your "conversation" on this lamp. I didn't realize you had started a conversation until checking my e-mail this morning. I hadn't downloaded my e-mail for several days because of a houseful of company over Thanksgiving. I replied to your "conversation", but thought others lurking on this thread might be interested in the auction results. The auction did well! If it had stayed under $100, I would have put in a bid. You did an excellent job on the description and pics.

Item # on eBay: 151482064193

--- Susan

 

Thanks Susan, I just replied to the conversation. I'm happy with how it ended too, I didn't expect it to go that high.

Oh, I have had an awful week, and just now trying to get back to life again. I've had an AWFUL issue with my hip. I was in the ER twice in the last week with terrible, awful, excruciating pain. All they could do for me was give pain medicine, which I hate taking. I'm not a good medicine taker....I don't even take a full dose of NyQuil when I'm sick.
Anyway, I'm much better today. But I missed out on a great thanksgiving, Black Friday shopping, keeping up housework, listing things on eBay, yard sales, fun with my kids, etc. Oh well at least I'm alive and well, lol!

 

>issue with my hip. I was in the ER twice in the last week with terrible, awful, excruciating pain.<

Oh, I'm so sorry. Do hope your hip keeps getting better. With excruciating pain in that area it may have been pinched nerves of some sort. When my lower back acts up, I have pain in my hip and down my leg. So far haven't had "excruciating" pain.

>...pain medicine, which I hate taking.<

Welllll, that's one problem I don't have. Whenever I'm in the hospital and they want to give me pain medication, I don't hesitate. I don't ask for it unless the pain is severe, but don't believe I've ever refused it. Do take care.

--- Susan