February 24, 2020 - Antiques, Art and Collectibles
They provided better lighting and were safer than candles. With the invention of gas lighting, gas lamps saw an explosion of growth and are still a popular choice for Victorian homes today.
In this article, we will explore the history of lamps, particularly antique gas lamps, certain styles of gas lamps, and how to find out what they’re worth.
The discovery of fire changed the course of human history. It provided warmth in winter and better-prepared food. Lamps date all the way back to 70,000 BC, with the earliest forms made from shells or hollowed-out rocks. This was probably the first ‘portable’ lamp.
Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome brought forth the decorative oil lamp. This simple contraption consisted of a dish to hold oil and a wick to burn fire.
From then on, the lamp kept evolving.
Possibly the first nod to gas lamps comes from the work of William Murdoch. Murdoch worked at a factory during the Industrial Revolution and experimented with coal gas. In England in 1792, he lit his house with coal gas, and a few years later he lit the inside of the factory he worked for, and then in 1807 gas was used to light street lamps.
Antique gas lamps became wide-spread at the beginning of the 19th century, but not perfectly. For many years, only the wealthy could afford them, and plenty of explosions, black soot, and less oxygen surrounded this invention. The gas was supplied through pipes that ran underground, much like today.
With all its remarkable positive benefits (better lighting in homes, less maintenance of candles, somewhat safer, convenient), gas lighting was short lived with the introduction of the light bulb in the late 1800s.
Today, gas lighting is still used, though it is not nearly as much.
The popularity of gas lamps in the late 19th century created a demand for wealthy Europeans to desire more lamp styles for their homes.
The most common and probably truest gas lamps are:
These antique gas lamps have a couple distinguishing characteristics.
Neoclassical, Rococo, Victorian, Greek Revival, and Baroque styles were preferred at the time gas lighting emerged.
Because chandeliers were used with candles before the introduction of gas, these were adapted to be used for gas lighting. Chandeliers were often used to light large rooms.
Some characteristics of gas-lighting chandeliers are:
Smaller rooms like kitchens, bathrooms or hallways relied on pendant lights. Pendant lights shared similar characteristics of chandeliers.
Wall Scones were used to supplement light in a larger room. Same look as pendant lights and chandeliers, with one exception: they needed a pipe that came out of the wall to supply the gas.
Antique gas lamps can have a wide range of value, from very little money to a significant amount.
Do you have an antique gas lamp you think is valuable? PawnGuru makes it easy to find the best offer from pawn shops near you without having to leave your home. Just enter information about your antique and they supply you with suggestions.
Check them out today and see how much your antique gas lamp is worth.
David Stiebel is one of the cofounders of PawnGuru. David was educated at MIT, where he studied Math. He subsequently worked at Bain as a data scientist before starting PawnGuru in 2015. He started PawnGuru to build a better tool for pawn shops and consumers to connect.
More Articles