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Exceptional late-Victorian artistic pottery kerosene / oil parlor lamp, circa 1880s, with a blue jasperware body decorated in applied white Neoclassical relief.
The pottery body features four oval classical portrait medallions surrounded by radiating foliate decoration and joined by a continuous Greek-key or meander band. One of the classical figures can be identified as Mercury (Hermes) by his winged headgear and caduceus. The other classical heads have not been positively identified.
An original paper label preserved inside the pottery body reads “Jones, McDuffee & Stratton, Boston.” Jones, McDuffee & Stratton was an important Boston importer and retailer of fine pottery, porcelain, glass and lamps during the 19th century.
The lamp retains its brass drop-in font and R. Hollings & Co., Boston, Mass. duplex burner. Hollings was a noted Boston manufacturer, importer and dealer in what the company itself advertised as “artistic pottery lamps.” The duplex burner retains its working mechanical snuffer/extinguisher, a particularly nice surviving feature.
Especially interesting, a small original red paper identification label remains inside the pottery body. The characters on that label match characters scratched into the underside of the brass font, providing compelling physical evidence that the pottery body and font were matched during the lamp’s original assembly.
The lamp rests on a substantial 5” square brass Neoclassical base with decorative cast border.
It is shown with a beautiful frosted and clear glass globe/shade decorated with cut/etched fruiting vines and foliage. The tall clear chimney is marked “MACBETH No. 10 PEARL.”
Approximate measurements:
* 9 1/2” high to top of brass font
* 5” square brass base
* 21” overall to top of chimney
A remarkably attractive and unusually well-documented survivor of the Boston Victorian lighting trade, combining an original Jones, McDuffee & Stratton-labeled classical pottery body with R. Hollings & Co. duplex lighting hardware.
Please examine photographs carefully, as they form an important part of the description. Original paper labels and matching assembly marks are photographed. No chips or cracks to the pottery vase; there is some mild corrosion to the brass font, but it remains sound and will hold fuel as designed with no problem.
