Melanie Williamson on sun 8 feb 98
Hello all!
I have just spent about 5 hours on the net researching ancient oil
lamps. I have found many beautiful images and some background
information on why they were used etc., but I have not found anything on
the most basic questions that I have.
How do they work?
What type of oil, wick, etc. did they require?
Most images had one or two openings, but a few had more openings. Did
these openings have wicks of some sort or were they for some
technological reason, or was it for aesthetics?
If anyone has done any research on this I would GREATLY appreciate some
insight. Thanks in advance,
Melanie
Tired from a busy week at school but still excited from entering my
first show, being accepted, and receiving an honorary mention. This is
so exciting!
______________________________________________________
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Kirk Morrison on mon 9 feb 98
In a message dated 98-02-08 23:00:24 EST, you write:
<< ello all!
I have just spent about 5 hours on the net researching ancient oil
lamps. I have found many beautiful images and some background
information on why they were used etc., but I have not found anything on
the most basic questions that I have.
How do they work?
What type of oil, wick, etc. did they require?
Most images had one or two openings, but a few had more openings. Did
these openings have wicks of some sort or were they for some
technological reason, or was it for aesthetics?
If anyone has done any research on this I would GREATLY appreciate some
insight. Thanks in advance, >>
Well, I would need to know more about the ones that you were looking at, were
they, in the catagory of grease lamp? or were they the lighter oil type such
as olive oil, where did they come from, and what time frame to give you a
specific answer. Here are some general rules though, northern European lamps
were similar to Betty lamps they used heavy oils and fat, melted it with heat
and used a short linen or hemp wick. In southern Europe and south they used
lighter oils such as olive and used a linen wick(s). Often they used more than
one wick to give a brighter light. I have examined only a few of the originals
and they were from the Middle Ages, but lighting really didn't change much
over the centuries until the late 1700's the biggest changes in lighting
happened in the 1800s. Remember the coal oil lamp ( kerosene) was brand new
during the War of Southern Independence ( The Civil War) having only been
around in the modern form for about 10 years. Braided wick in candles is
younger than this country, self snuffing wicks are another 19th century
invention.
Just use a hunk of cotton linen or hemp rope or heavy string in the lamps that
is long enough to run at least 3/4s of the way across the bottom and the right
size to fill the channel and you will be fine. Gee the useless (normally)
knowledge you pick up being a living history buff and re-enactor.
Kirk
KA4PXK/3
Elizabeth A. Ringus on mon 9 feb 98
Melanie, I had to make some oil lamps for a Easter Passion Play a couple
years back, and the person who commissioned me gave me photo copies out of a
book to show me what they should look like. I remember that the text with
it said that olive oil was used in the middle east for lamp oil since that
is what was very common and cheap. More openings were holders for wicks =
more light.
I make modern oil lamps and in an emergency, you can even use salad oil,
although it will smoke alot and smell. The wick is another matter. I keep
woven cotton wicks on hand. I tried cotton cloth strips one time, but they
burned too fast. Whatever is used for wicks has to be a tight weave.
Liz :-)
SC
Melanie Williamson wrote:
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Hello all!
>
> I have just spent about 5 hours on the net researching ancient oil
> lamps. I have found many beautiful images and some background
> information on why they were used etc., but I have not found anything on
> the most basic questions that I have.
> How do they work?
> What type of oil, wick, etc. did they require?
> Most images had one or two openings, but a few had more openings. Did
> these openings have wicks of some sort or were they for some
> technological reason, or was it for aesthetics?
> If anyone has done any research on this I would GREATLY appreciate some
> insight. Thanks in advance,
>
> Melanie
> Tired from a busy week at school but still excited from entering my
> first show, being accepted, and receiving an honorary mention. This is
> so exciting!
>
> ______________________________________________________
> Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
Lili Krakowski on tue 10 feb 98
On Sun, 8 Feb 1998, Melanie Williamson wrote:
Well ancient covers a whole lot...suffice it to say that wicks had to be
used--and I have no idea what they were made of, but cotton or
similar fiber would be likeliest. Tallow or other animal grease might
work, some might have used pitch,but of course oil was prefered. As we
all know from the Channuka
story, fine olive oil was the oil of choice. And if I recall one of the
things made out fo whale blubber was oil for lamps. Today, fiberglass
wicks and a petroleum based oil generally si used. Obviously not in
ancient lamps but in modern ones.
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Hello all!
>
> I have just spent about 5 hours on the net researching ancient oil
> lamps. I have found many beautiful images and some background
> information on why they were used etc., but I have not found anything on
> the most basic questions that I have.
> How do they work?
> What type of oil, wick, etc. did they require?
> Most images had one or two openings, but a few had more openings. Did
> these openings have wicks of some sort or were they for some
> technological reason, or was it for aesthetics?
> If anyone has done any research on this I would GREATLY appreciate some
> insight. Thanks in advance,
>
> Melanie
> Tired from a busy week at school but still excited from entering my
> first show, being accepted, and receiving an honorary mention. This is
> so exciting!
>
> ______________________________________________________
> Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
>
Lili Krakowski
Marcia Selsor on tue 10 feb 98
They had wicks. The Roman earthenware lamps and the later Moslem "mosque"
lamps used olive oil in the earthenware lamps.
Marci in Montana
Melanie Williamson wrote:
>
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Hello all!
>
> I have just spent about 5 hours on the net researching ancient oil
> lamps. I have found many beautiful images and some background
> information on why they were used etc., but I have not found anything on
> the most basic questions that I have.
> How do they work?
> What type of oil, wick, etc. did they require?
> Most images had one or two openings, but a few had more openings. Did
> these openings have wicks of some sort or were they for some
> technological reason, or was it for aesthetics?
> If anyone has done any research on this I would GREATLY appreciate some
> insight. Thanks in advance,
>
> Melanie
> Tired from a busy week at school but still excited from entering my
> first show, being accepted, and receiving an honorary mention. This is
> so exciting!
>
> ______________________________________________________
> Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
Cindy Morley on wed 11 feb 98
On Tue, 10 Feb 1998, Lili Krakowski wrote:
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> On Sun, 8 Feb 1998, Melanie Williamson wrote:
> Well ancient covers a whole lot...suffice it to say that wicks had to be
> used--and I have no idea what they were made of, but cotton or
> similar fiber would be likeliest. Tallow or other animal grease might
It depends on where in ancient times... Cotton was an extremely expensive
material in ancient times. It wasn't even used in Europe until the late
middle ages. It was used earlier in Egypt and the middle east, but it was
still such a rare and expensive commodity that I doubt it was used for
wicks. In Medieval times, linen and wool were the most common fibers used
for clothing, so I would assume that it would be used for wicks as well.
I have no idea, however, what they would have used as an oil...
Cindy Morley
> work, some might have used pitch,but of course oil was prefered. As we
> all know from the Channuka
> story, fine olive oil was the oil of choice. And if I recall one of the
> things made out fo whale blubber was oil for lamps. Today, fiberglass
> wicks and a petroleum based oil generally si used. Obviously not in
> ancient lamps but in modern ones.
>
>
> > ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> > Hello all!
> >
> > I have just spent about 5 hours on the net researching ancient oil
> > lamps. I have found many beautiful images and some background
> > information on why they were used etc., but I have not found anything on
> > the most basic questions that I have.
> > How do they work?
> > What type of oil, wick, etc. did they require?
> > Most images had one or two openings, but a few had more openings. Did
> > these openings have wicks of some sort or were they for some
> > technological reason, or was it for aesthetics?
> > If anyone has done any research on this I would GREATLY appreciate some
> > insight. Thanks in advance,
> >
> > Melanie
> > Tired from a busy week at school but still excited from entering my
> > first show, being accepted, and receiving an honorary mention. This is
> > so exciting!
> >
> > ______________________________________________________
> > Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
> >
>
> Lili Krakowski
>
Kirk Morrison on wed 11 feb 98
In a message dated 98-02-10 13:23:27 EST, you write:
<< They had wicks. The Roman earthenware lamps and the later Moslem "mosque"
lamps used olive oil in the earthenware lamps.
Marci in Montana
Melanie Williamson wrote:
> >>
so did the greek and Eygptian lamps
Rivolta on sat 14 feb 98
Melanie Williamson wrote:
>
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Hello all!
>
> I have just spent about 5 hours on the net researching ancient oil
> lamps. I have found many beautiful images and some background
> information on why they were used etc., but I have not found anything on
> the most basic questions that I have.
> How do they work?
> What type of oil, wick, etc. did they require?
> Most images had one or two openings, but a few had more openings. Did
> these openings have wicks of some sort or were they for some
> technological reason, or was it for aesthetics?
> If anyone has done any research on this I would GREATLY appreciate some
> insight. Thanks in advance,
>
> Melanie
> Tired from a busy week at school but still excited from entering my
> first show, being accepted, and receiving an honorary mention. This is
> so exciting!
>
> ______________________________________________________
> Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
Melanie-
I assume you are talking about the type of oil lamp used in ancient
Greece and Rome. The lamps burned olive oil and the wick was usually
made from flax. Some of the lamps had openings for more than one wick,
thus providing a brighter light. The central opening, even when very
narrow in diameter, was for filling the lamp.
Pottery lamps were made in the ancient Near East at least since the
early Bronze age. The first ones were hand molded (sort of pinch pots)
and dish-shaped with an indentation for the wick. Over time the shape
became more enclosed. During the Iron Age, wheel thrown lamps
developed. It wasn't until the Roman period that two-part, press molds
began to be used. The use of these molds encouraged the development of
elaborate decorative motifs. Some molds were made of pottery and others
from carved plaster or chalk.
All the best, Barbara
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