Peg lamp
United States or England
1835-1860
Measurements
5-1/2 in x 3-1/4 in (dia)
Materials
Colorless glass, brass (collar), tin-coated iron (burners)
Credit Line
Historic Odessa Foundation
Accession Number
2025.13
Condition Notes
One of the two burner caps is missing. The burner itself appears to be a replacement.
Provenance
Found in collections
Comments
This peg lamp converts a candlestick to a fluid-burning lamp. It is a fluid reservoir with a burner at the top and a lightly tapered glass peg at the bottom that fit into a candlestick in place of the candle. The glass reservoir on this lamp is cut with fifteen eight-pointed stars and fifteen circles. The peg is fused to the bottom, opposite the hole in the top covered by a brass collar. Two long, narrow burners, designed for camphene, screw into the collar. Caps helped extinguish the flame. Camphene was a burning fluid derived from turpentine that produced a brighter light than whale oil. Kerosene, which was safer than camphene, replaced it in the mid 19th century.
