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Argand lamp

Argand lamp
Fused silver plate on copper and brass, base metals, iron
1790
Argand lamp
Argand lamp
Fused silver plate on copper and brass, base metals, iron
1790
Argand lamp Fused silver plate on copper and brass, base metals, iron 1790
Status
Not on view
Label Text

This sleek "patent lamp" was at the forefront of style as well as lighting and manufacturing technologies when Gouverneur Morris purchased fourteen of them at George Washington's request while in London in 1790. A single piece of fused silverplate forms its classically inspired, urn-shaped body, which serves as the oil reservoir. The drop burner employs a tubular wick held between two concentric metal tubes with a glass chimney above. Genovese inventor François-Pierre Aimé Argand (1750-1803) revolutionized lighting with this deceptively simple innovation. His patented design dramatically improved airflow, thereby producing a brighter flame that burned longer and produced less smoke than earlier oil lamps and candles.

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Date1790
Geography Probably retailed - EnglandProbably made - England
DimensionsOther (A): 6 in. x 9 in. x 4 in. (15.24 cm x 22.86 cm x 10.16 cm)
Credit LineGift of John Pierpont Morgan, 1915
Object numberW-12/A-B
DescriptionA:
Silver plate urn-shaped Argand-type lamp with two scrolled wire handles on a tall, flared, and stepped pedestal base; elliptical body; tinned interior.

B:
Sheet iron central draft burner with decoratively pierced silver plate top fitted with an iron and brass rack-and-pinion mechanism for elevating the wick.


Published ReferencesCarol Borchert Cadou, The George Washington Collection: Fine and Decorative Arts at Mount Vernon (New York: Hudson Hills Press, 2006), 150, 285.

Martha Gandy Fales, "The Silver," Magazine Antiques 135/2 (February 1989): 521-523.

Kathryn C. Buhler, Mount Vernon Silver (Mount Vernon, VA: The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, 1957), 53.


Mount Vernon's object research is ongoing and information about this object is subject to change. For information on image use and reproductions, click here.
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