Pair of Massive Carcel Ormolu Lamps, French Empire, 18th/19th C., originally an oil lamp, now fitted for electricity; with attached label. (2 pcs.) (54)

N.B. The Carcel lamp was invented by the French watchmaker Bernard Guillaume Carcel (1750 - 1818) to overcome the disadvantage of the Argand lamp. Because of the weight of the oil, the reservoir of the Argand lamp was mounted above the burner, and the wick was supplied with fuel by a gravity feed. The result was a shadow cast behind the reservoir of the Argand lamp. Carcel invented a clockwork mechanism located in the base of the lamp, that that drove a small pump in the tank that fed Colza oil from a reservoir below the burner. Both the Argand lamp and Carcel lamp were superseded when kerosene became available as a fuel for lamps. {WK} (ELBE6286/2)

Property of an Elberon, New Jersey Collector

Measurements: Total Ht. 39

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Some wear to gilding, otherwise in good condition.