Hi All, This seller has three rare lacemaker's lamps for sale! It does look like what I think is the real thing. Pretty pricey though.
Lacemaker's Lamp, 19th century ? lace maker's would use this type of oil lamp as a light source behind their magnifying flask to make lace, pontil marks can be seen at bottom
http://cgi3.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll? RedirectEnter&partner=777701&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi%2Eebay%2Ecom%2Fws%2FeB ayISAPI%2Edll%3FViewItem%26item%3D3285954173%26category%3D4061%26ssPageN ame%3DADME%3AB%3AEF%3AUS%3A1
Well, I don't know... It seemed more like a "weird thing" to me :)
As I understand it, the *essence* of a "lacemaker's lamp" is, indeed, a globe -- so far so good. But the globe *is* the "magnifying flask"; it gets filled with pure-as-pure (you used to be able to melt snow for this <g>) water (to cut down on distortion), place a source of light behind it, the water spreads and intensifies the light, and off you go, working on an intricate piece.
An *oil lamp*, placed behind a magnifying flask, would supply an extra layer of glass, thus *adding* to a possible distortion, I think (and never mind the soot that collects on the inside)... And, my understanding of physics has never been adequate (I had to promise the teachers I'd never divulge their names before they'd give me a passing grade) but, wouldn't two rounded bits of glass (lamp and flask) sort-of cancel one another in the magnification business?
As a child, I used to spend 3 months out of every year with my father's family "in the village". Since they didn't have electricity till 1970 or thereabouts, they used oil lamps. I've never seen one even similiar to the one pictured, nor have I seen anything similiar in any books dealing with Polish artifacts... I refuse to think that Poland was *that* different from anyone else :)
The matter of the "missing tin with the hole for the wick" is nothing, but where's the *chimney*?
"19th century" (even with a question mark <g>) covers a 100 yrs' span; the term is imprecise, since, by the end of it, oil lamps would not have been the only source of light available.
And the seller has this rare item *in triplicate*? With, perhaps, another 100 waiting to be shipped from China... <g>
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Tamara P Duvall
Lexington, Virginia, USA
Formerly of Warsaw, Poland
http://lorien.emufarm.org/~tpd/
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