My name is Giorgio and I live in Italy. I collect antique silver, mainly small pieces of European and Continental silver, particularly of 18th and 19th century. In 2001 I bought from an American dealer, at a reasonable price, a "Huge 18th c. empire silver whale oil lamp". The lamp had been electrified and three holes had been drilled in it for this purpose. The finial was broken and repaired, but not very well. The lamp had separate hallmarks on each of its pieces, which the seller described as "some sort of shield with crossed keys". He supposed it to be German.
My curiosity was initially attracted by the fuel it was designed to use (whale oil) and after I had seen some photos of the item I decided to buy it.
When I received the lamp I was astonished by dimensions and quality of the object , 100cm (40inches) high and weighing over 2500gr (80oz). I was also surprised when I discovered hallmarks of the Papal State (Stato Pontificio) in Rome, first half of 19th century.
The piece is a silver oil lamp, called "lucerna" in Italian, a well known Italian silver artifact of the 18th and 19th century. This "lucerna" is now the highlight of my small collection of antique silver.

This new addition to my collection led me to research this form and to collect information and photos of many analogous objects, wich I offer to anyone who is interested (see left border of this page). If you are interested in even more information about these objects or have informations or photos that will contribute to my research, please e-mail me.

for e-mail you may address to giorgio

this page is maintained by Giorgio B. - Italy
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updated May 25, 2004

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