Antique Early Lighting 18thc Cast Bronze Single Valve Crusie Lamp.

A fine example of a mid 18thc single valve crusie oil lamp, complete with fitted wick rest....this example is of the type which was used in England and also in Holland and Belgium at this date....it is of the finest quality, being made from cast bronze and you can see the wick rest, which is immediately behind the spout.....the little conical in the centre of the valve was used as an oil gauge....as the oil goes down, the more of the conical is exposed, warning the owner it has to be topped up....this lamp is suspended by a hook called a 'halberd' hook, and this tells us the lamp would have been used in domestic houses and cottages....the crusie lamps that were used by the miners, were much cruder in form and hung by a single curved hook, called a 'miner's hook'.....the crusie lamp is in excellent condition.

English / Continental.  C1760-80.