Signal device or lantern
United States or England
1800-1860
Measurements
14 in x 5-1/4 in (dia)
Materials
Tinned sheet iron
Credit Line
Historic Odessa Foundation, The David Wilson Mansion, Inc.
Accession Number
1971.964
Condition Notes
The bottom of the lighting device has been pushed upward below the door.
Provenance
Ex coll. Mrs. E. Tatnall (Mary Corbit) Warner
Comments
The signal light or lantern has a cylindrical body surmounted by a conical top. A circular strap handle attached star-like creased disk and in turn to the top of the lighting device. The device has a narrow rectangular, hinged door with a coiled metal hasp. The door is decoratively pierced with linear and dot-like openings arranged in a tall arch. The body of the lantern or signal light is a single piece of curved sheet metal, decoratively pierced in two broad arch-headed motifs. The conical top is similarly pierced and has two larger circular openings to exhaust candle heat and smoke from the single socket inside.
The absence of any glass windows in this lighting device inhibits any illumination from the candle. Thus, it is difficult to imagine its use as a lantern. Instead, this device may have signaled a location or place, since light from a candle would be visible through the many piercings without projecting into the surrounding area.
