Genuine or not?

My local pub is now open after an extensive re-furbishment. The building is a former coaching inn with a large yard at the back with tables for about 40 people. On the walls there are what appear to be old oil lamps which have been converted to electricity. I can't decide if these are genuine, reproductions or something that some designer has made up. What do you think?

I would guess at repro, I doubt if that amount could have been laying around somewhere. Would look nice in my back yard where I need to replace the lights.

I bought some very similar possibly identical in an " antique" emporium in Lewes Sussex about four or five years ago for our old house which was of an age that they suited perfectly, these were sold as reproductions and were quite reasonably priced and decently made. Can't remember how much we paid, but they couldn't have been astronomically priced as I'm a cheapskate. They were made of painted or plated steel made to look like antique copper so not sure of the lasting qualities, the new owners of the house obviously didn't like them as they were soon replaced with ultra modern units that would have graced a starship better than an old cottage!.

There was a range of varying styles one a copy of what I think were GWR oil carriage interior lights.

Dave

SWMBO says she has seen them more recently in the antiques shop at the old Bexhill on sea station, so looks like they are widely available.

Sorry about edits- spelling!

Edited By Dave Wootton on 13/06/2021 09:29:01

Edited By Dave Wootton on 13/06/2021 09:31:04

Edited By Dave Wootton on 13/06/2021 09:31:37

Hi Dave, you can delete your subsequent edit list, leaving only the last one you make, just press your delete button at the end of your last sentence, makes the post look tidier.

Regards Nick.

'inspired by' I should think. The boxy exterior and slanted front has a modern look, and the 'oil-lamp' inside is too sheet metal and simple to be old.

More in keeping with the building than some garish schemes I've seen. ⁷⁄₁₀, could do better...

Dave

It looks somehow wrong to be more than inspired by rather than copying, an original. Too angular, too-small chimney, too-small reservoir; for the proportions of the case.

That recalls a similar question I pondered when I repaired a carriage candle-lantern for a friend.

It may well have been reproduction but it was fully working, with its simple arrangement for keeping the candle at constant height. If genuine though I'd have guessed at no earlier than Edwardian, perhaps late-Victorian, manufacture, when mass-producing sheet-metal items was well advanced.

(The candle sat on a long but light coil spring in a vertical tube protruding an inch or so above and about six inches below, the lantern's base. As it burnt down, the spring kept its top edge held up against an inwardly-spun flange on top of the tube.)

Some old tin oil cans, a good pair of tin snips,a tin of flux , an old HEAVY soldering iron (not necessarily electric) and some tinmans solder - amazing what you can make ! For the purist or for marine use substitute tin cans for an old copper hot water cylinder ! Noel.

Silly design! Any rain is directed straight at the brickwork. Repro!

Having collected old oil lamps for the last 30 odd years and having around 120 on display in my house I have not seen this model in an unrestored or original state. I have seen similar ones in home decor type retrovintage shops.

They show no signs of ever having a wick winder or snuffing device fitted. So IMHO these are repro' and made for the exact purpose they are being used for.

regards

They look fit for purpose, and fit in with the decor pretty well. Probably modern manufacture.