Object Number 1964.0781

Object Name

Lamp (Oil lamp)

Category

Metals

Credit Line/Donor

Bequest of Henry Francis du Pont

Creator (Role)

William Homes Webb (Maker)
1773-1868

Place of Origin

Warren, Knox, Maine, New England, United States, North America

Date

1800-1868

Mark or Signature or Inscription or Label

1. Mark; Base, underside; "W" engraved twice.

Materials

Brass; Sheet iron

Techniques

Cast

Dimensions (inches)

8.268 (H) , 3.937 (Diam)

Dimensions (centimeters)

21 (H) , 10 (Diam)

Object Description

Web - 02/03/2017

William Homes Webb left two impressed "W" marks on the underside of the base of this whale oil lamp designed to look like a brass candlestick. Cast brass oil lamps with maker's marks are a rarity in American lighting of the early 1800s. Webb's professional training included his successful silversmith father, Barnabas Webb, an apprenticeship to Boston brass founder Thomas Leach, and study of the brass industry in Birmingham, England for six months. He found personal success after moving to Warren, Maine where he produced a range of brass goods including fireplace tools, clock parts, ship and harness fittings, candlesticks and oil lamps like this one.
The double wick-tube burner is possibly not original; the lamp was modified to hold an electric bulb sometime in the early 20th century.

Bibliography and Bibliographic Notes

[Book] Fennimore, Donald L. 1996 Metalwork in Early America: Copper and Its Alloys from the Winterthur Collection.
• Published: cat.158, p. 248
[Article] Ackerman, Paul. 1983 William Homes Webb 1773-1868, Brassfounder -- Warren, Maine. Maine Antiques Digest. April: 1-4 C.
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[Article] Pass, Garland. 1982 American Brass Whale Oil Lamps. Maine Antiques Digest. July: 1-5 D.
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