Argand wall lamp

New Room
View of north wall with sideboard and looking glass
Spring Scenario 2014

Argand lamp
Sheffiled plate
Late 18th-Century

Status

Not on view

Label Text

George Washington was at the forefront of style and technology when he purchased “2 pair[s] Patent Lamps” for the Presidential mansion. The classically inspired, urn-shaped body embellished with bright-cut engraved foliate bands and garlands, serves as the oil reservoir that feeds a tubular wick held between two concentric metal tubes. The patented design by inventor François-Pierre Aimé Argand dramatically improved airflow, thereby producing a brighter flame that burned longer and produced less smoke than earlier oil lamps and candles. Impressed with their ability, Washington brought them back to Mount Vernon.

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Datec. 1790-1797

Retailer Joseph Anthony (American, 1762 - 1814)

Geography Probably made - EnglandRetailed - United States

Medium/TechniqueFused silverplate on copper, brass, tin, glass

DimensionsOverall (H x W x D): 16 1/2 in. x 8 1/8 in. x 4 in. (41.91 cm x 20.64 cm x 10.16 cm)

Credit LineGift of Mrs. Charles Angelo Conrad, 1893

Object numberW-13/B

DescriptionB1:
Fused silverplate Argand-type wall lamp with octagonal urn-shaped font decorated with bright-cut engraving of foliate bands and garlands; the font is affixed to a sloped and stepped base that sits atop an integral cylindrical pedestal with a sloped and collared foot that screws into a baluster-shaped arm protruding from a circular wall plate affixed with three screws; attached to the pedestal is a swelled and faceted arm that projects horizontally from the left to support a hollow cylinder; the footed cylinder features a double row of foliate piercing at the base, a sheet iron central draft burner, and an iron and brass rack-and-pinion mechanism for elevating the wick.

B2:
Cylindrical hand blown glass chimney with pinched shoulders; set into a brass collar.

Published ReferencesCarol Borchert Cadou, The George Washington Collection: Fine and Decorative Arts at Mount Vernon (New York: Hudson Hills Press, 2006), 18.

Marian S. Carson, “Washington Furniture at Mount Vernon, I. The Banquet Hall,” American Collector 16/4 (May 1947), 6, 17.

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