Posted 6 years ago
kwqd
(1184 items)
This oil lamp is 18.5" high and the body is about 5" in diameter. A $3 thrift shop find today. I was trying to stay small and cheap today, but I have never seen one of these before and couldn't resist it. Amazing that the original globe has survived. This dates from the 1950s. It has a #2 Eagle burner. Under the base is a metal plate with two keyhole cutouts so that it can be turned onto two projecting screw heads to secure it to a table or wall. Pretty sure that it is supposed to be used on a boat or ship. The oil reservoir is actually a smallish cylinder inside the inverted bell body. I took it apart and there is a rubber seal at the bottom of the oil reservoir but the size of the reservoir means it can only hold about 8-10 ounces of oil. Not sure how seriously it was meant to be used, but it is fully functional. Input on its true use welcomed. I could not find another example of this lamp.
Yeah, it's me again, kwqd ! After you paid the $3 for this, did you feel like you should run ? Even as a repro, you stole it ! Didn't lose a seconds sleep that nite either, right? Actually, I see no age patina & guess it isn't all that old & never used. Is it only gimbaled one way ? Most ships lamps are gimbaled both ways, although fore & aft might not be as much. I quit liking boats, but still swagger & roll as I walk along the water front here. Actually, the roll is usually from beer, but I'm good at faking it & fooling the tourists.
Thanks for your comments, blunderbuss2! Yeah, I wondered about how it is gimbaled, too. I did eventually find one of these and it was identified as a "gimbled wall lamp". P&A went out of business in the late 1950s, when Risdon bought what was left of it after flooding destroyed their main factory in 1955. Risdon only operated what was left, making lamps, in the late 1950s, but made burners, not complete lamps, into the 1960s. It is not a repro, but probably a lamp put together from P&A parts left over after the flood using a Risdon made burner.
http://www.thelampworks.com/lw_companies_p&a.htm
It was quite grungy when I found it, but I polished it up some. It is not as cherry as it looks. It has significant corrosion and minor pitting on the arms that it pivots on. I found an old wick (3/4"), which had been lit, in the oil chamber, in addition to the 1/2" wick currently in the burner. I did a quick disassemble and polish, just to get some photos. I need to pull it apart again and do a better cleaning.
I guess it is also possible that Risdon used old stock P&A Eagle burners and just put their knob on it, too. I got lucky a couple of months ago and bought three dozen new old stock Eagle burners in the original boxes. I am set for quality American made #2 burners for the rest of my life and probably a couple of generations to follow.
Well dang. Now I can't find the page with information on this lamp. I'll keep looking. I did find this link that identifies it as P&A Risdon restaurant wall lamp...
http://www.milesstair.com/Metal_Lamps.html
"At left is a P&A Risdon restaurant wall lamp. This lamp also used the inner cylinder font system. Construction is brass plated steel for durability, plus the gimbaled wall mount to compensate for being knocked about. The unusual original chimney fit perfectly within the upper ring and thus had an excellent chance for survival. The disadvantage of the small inner cylinder was a 3 or 4 hour burn time."
Thanks for loving my oil lamp!
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Thank you for loving my restaurant oil lamp!
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