Not long ago, I was cruising the auction listings when I saw this lamp pop up at an auction house in Syracuse, New York. I placed a low bid as I usually do and to my surprise I won it. I believe it is cast from spelter (zinc), though it could be cast in part from bronze as well. While this offering is not my typical purchase, it still fits comfortably within my collection.
I have looked far and wide online for a catalog or advertisement listing for my lamp but without success. At the time this was created, anywhere from the late 1820's to around 1900 (I think it's from the 1850's myself), there were quite a large number of companies that made substantial counter or tabletop cigar lighters that would have been plumbed into the building's gas supply via a rubber hose and would have had a gas jet at the top, aiming upward where the lightbulb socket is now located. It would have graced the study of a fine Victorian house or the countertop of a tobacconist's store. My lighter had been converted to an electric lamp sometime prior to the WWII, so most of the original plumbing is missing, though the original shade rest remains. The original shade is also a thing of history, having been replaced in prior years, probably when the lamp was electrified (my guess is during the 1930's). I have purchased a period correct etched glass bowl diffuser style shade which could have graced this lamp when it was new, though I may never know what the original shade looked like. I have left the stained glass shade on it however as the etched clear glass bowl shade does nothing to diffuse or hide a full sized lightbulb.
Depicted here is a seated smiling or smirking Native American warrior. He is sitting on a highly detailed plinth, very in keeping with the Victorian era in which this lamp was made. His shoulder length hair is pulled back into a topknot. He is dressed in what I can only describe as bearskin shorts and a fringed collar from which dangles bear claws, with a fur arm band wrapped around each bicep. He is holding a rifle across his raised right knee and left thigh. It is very much in keeping with early American and European artistic depictions of generic "American Indian men" typically made before the many Wild West shows began touring with genuine Native actors wearing their genuine clothes and accessories. The sculpt is exquisite, very Beaux Arts style, full of small details that never fail to catch the eye. The original finish has suffered some from the passage of time but is still mostly extant. Nothing on the lamp is damaged or missing save the gas parts. For that I am grateful.
If anyone knows the who, when and where of the creation of my cigar lighter, please let me know!
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| Antique Cigar Lighter, cast metal, unidentified, front with replacement shade on top |
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| Antique Cigar Lighter, cast metal, unidentified, front with replacement shade off |
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| Antique Cigar Lighter, cast metal, unidentified, back with replacement shade off |
cool find!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
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