Unusual Artifacts: An Italian Bronze Lamp, 1500-1550

The Victoria & Albert Museum

This bronze lamp made in Italy between 1500 and 1550 depicts the head of a satyr with a foliated beard and eyebrows, mounted on an eagle's claw. His mouth forms the burner and a hinged cover to the oil reservoir is on his crown.

This was made in the workshop of Severo da Ravenna in Padua or Ravenna. Known also as Severo di Domenico Calzetta da Ravenna, he was an Italian sculptor, active between 1496 and approximately 1543.

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: An Eighteenth Century Hanukkah Lamp



The Victoria & Albert Museum

 Made in the Netherlands in the Eighteenth Century, this brass Hanukkah lamp features the requisite eight lights. Its back-plate is cast and pierced and surmounted by a Star of David with a Hebrew inscription which reads: “For the commandment is a lamp and the Torah a light.”

This would have served as a menorah at Hanukkah--the eight-day Jewish Festival of Lights which celebrates the victory of Judas Maccabeus over the Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes.

Unusual Artifacts: A Pip Squeak and Wilfred Lampshade for a Child's Room, c. 1930

Lampshade featuring Pip, Squeak and Wilfred
England, 1930s
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The Victoria & Albert Museum

This adorable lampshade was made in the 1930s. The shade was marketed for use in a child’s bedroom, and, in fact, it was used for that purpose until it was given to the V&A. The adornment on the shade is based on characters created by Bertram Lamb of Chesterfield, England and illustrated by Austen Bowen-Payne. They are the dog called “Pip,” a penguin named “Squeak” and one Wilfred, a baby rabbit. These plucky animals were some of the most popular cartoon characters of the 1920s to 1950s. They were favorites of many a household, and were so well known that the three main commemorative Great War medals were nicknamed after them.

The lampshade of white glass is made in a hexagonal form with Pip, Squeak and Wilfred painted in pastel colors on the sides. The original purchasers of the shade were the parents of Peter Gerald Lamb (born March 30, 1933). Lamb kept the lampshade in his room until 1967 when he was married. Afterwards, the lamp found its way into his children’s bedrooms. 

Unusual Artifacts: An Italian Bronze Lamp, 1500-1550

The Victoria & Albert Museum

This bronze lamp made in Italy between 1500 and 1550 depicts the head of a satyr with a foliated beard and eyebrows, mounted on an eagle's claw. His mouth forms the burner and a hinged cover to the oil reservoir is on his crown.

This was made in the workshop of Severo da Ravenna in Padua or Ravenna. Known also as Severo di Domenico Calzetta da Ravenna, he was an Italian sculptor, active between 1496 and approximately 1543.

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: A Silver-Plate Telescopic Argand Lamp, 1814-23

The Victoria & Albert Museum

François Aimé Argand (1750-1803), a Swiss scientist, invented the circular wick in 1782, allowing every part of a lamp's wick to be equally exposed to the air, and letting the wick burn evenly and more brightly than would a conventional wick. This idea was the main component of the Argand lamp which combined a cylindrical wick with a tall, narrow glass chimney to create a draft of hot air--producing up to twelve times mire light than earlier lamps.

Matthew Boulton--known for his production of cut-steel buttons (1728-1809) was introduced to Argand in 1784 by William Packer, a Birmingham merchant. Boulton was intrigued by the ingenuity of Argand's invention and put into production lamps made in Sheffield plate incorporating Argand's design for the wick. The trouble was, Argand's patent rights had not been secured. Naturally, their friendship ended badly.

This particular lamp, one of a pair, by Boulton is engraved with the Arms of Charles William Stewart, 1st Baron Stewart, later 3rd Marquess of Londonderry (died 1854) and is encircled with the collar of the Order of the Bath. The V&a notes, "It is most unusual to be able to date closely any piece of Sheffield plate, but since Stewart became Baron Stewart in 1814 and was created Viscount Seeham in 1823, this lamp must have been made between these dates."

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: A Brass Hanukkah Lamp, 1800

The Victoria & Albert Museum

Since Hanukkah begins on December 20, I thought today we’d take a look at some art and objects associated with the Festival of Lights. Let’s begin with this brass Hanukkah lamp. Cast with cut-out work, the lamp features a back-plate which is shaped like a synagogue with a gallery backed by a Moorish arcade. Above this arcade and gallery is a roof with gable windows and two stylized peacocks which serve as support for a vase.


The lamp's footed side panels are formed in the shape of a lion rampant with a candle socket and grease pan screwed to the end of its tail. These serve as a shammash (servitor light) or Sabbath candle holder. The front of the lamp is pierced with a fretted pattern through which protrude the nozzles of the eight lamps—one for each night of Hanukkah. This could serve in addition to or in place of a Menorah. Each lamp would be illuminated on one night of Hanukkah until, at the end of the festival, all eight lamps would be glowing. It was made circa 1800.

Objects of the Day: A Pair of Crystal Lamps

For years, I would walk into my bedroom and think, “I hate those lamps.” When I bought this house, I purchased a pair of inexpensive lamps for the bedroom with the intention of replacing them when I found something I liked. Over eight years later, I still had the offending fixtures and couldn’t find a pair of lamps that I thought were truly perfect.


Then, my mother remembered a set of crystal lamps that she and my father had purchased over thirty years ago, but hadn’t used in a very long time. The shades were tattered with age, but the lamps themselves were perfect. Shimmering crystal urns with subtle gold-tone bases never go out of style, and they had the perfect look for my house.

A pair of new shades of cerulean blue embroidered with a pattern of brown quatrefoils was the perfect upgrade for these classically-styled lamps. The addition of sparkling crystal finials completed the look.

Now, I walk into my bedroom and think, “Wow. I love those lamps.”