Lamp; brass font and stem; fluted stem rests on a square marble plinth; may originally have been a solar lamp, updated for use with kerosene, and electrified in the 20th century; replaced pink, floral globe; missing burner and clear glass chimney. Maker unknown, possibly Starr, Fellows and Company, New York; circa 1856., 1856. Digital
Dates
- Creation: 1856.
Conditions Governing Access
The Dickinson Room and many of these objects can be viewed by guided tour Fridays at 2:00 p.m.
Examination of objects in the Houghton Reading Room requires advance notice, and the permission of the curator.
Extent
20 linear feet (68 items)Physical Facet
Brass, bronze, glass;
Dimensions
height 40.0 cm. (without shade), height 59.6 cm. (with shade), base width 13.9 cm., base depth 13.9 cm.
General note
The awkward proportions of this lamp are due to the addition of a socket when the lamp was electrified, making the lamp taller than it should be. The original globe (which was broken when the lamp was moved to Harvard) was likely cut and etched blown glass. A clear chimney would have helped deliver smoke and fumes up through the shade. The lamp may have been used in the parlor or hall of the Edward Dickinson home.
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.
Harvard Yard
Harvard University
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
(617) 495-2440
Houghton_Library@harvard.edu