Double-Plated Lamp

Description

This kerosene-fueled lamp exemplifies the growing taste for brilliant color and elaborate surface decoration in mid-19th century lighting. The Boston and Sandwich Glass Company produced a variety of lamps and other objects of cased and cut glass. Here, clear, white, and blue glass have been layered and then cut to create an intricate design. When illuminated, the distinctive glass casts patterns of light within a room. This technique was developed by glassworkers from Bohemia (a historic region that now forms much of the Czech Republic), who brought it to the United States.

Provenance

Hirschl and Adler Galleries, New York City, by 1994; the Art Institute of Chicago, 1994.

Double-Plated Lamp

Boston and Sandwich Glass Company

c. 1865

Accession Number

131880

Medium

Cobalt blue, opaque white, and clear glass, gilt bronze, and marble

Dimensions

H.: 97.8 cm (38 1/2 in.)

Classification

lamp (lighting device)

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

The Mrs. Maurice H. Mandelbaum Collection