The Etruscan Majolica Oil Lamp

Should you come across an Etruscan Majolica syrup pitcher without its pewter lid, don’t automatically pass it by. Before you do, take a good look at the metal fitting attached to the top of the syrup. You’re possibly looking at the base of a rare Etruscan oil lamp.

Conventional Etruscan Majolica syrup

Conventional Etruscan Majolica Syrup with top open

Described by the West Chester Local Daily News as well as by American pottery historian Edwin Atlee Barber upon his visit to the Phoenixville Etruscan Works in the 1880s, some majolica pieces were fitted by a third party with pewter spouts and lids for use as syrups and some were fitted with the components to convert them into oil lamps. In this time before electricity, portable oil lamps were an indispensable part of every household.

There were several different types of syrup lids made for the Etruscan syrups but most of the fittings attached to the majolica base looked the same. They had wide collars of pewter attached to a flange on which the lid would sit. Attached to the collar was an integral spout. In the back of the fitting was a hinge to which was attached a pewter lid with a handle for lifting the lid. 

The interior pewter fitting on an Etruscan Syrup

Etruscan syrup with broken hinge and missing top lid

The bases made as lamps however had none of this. These lamp font bases had narrow brass collars to which a burner could be fitted. These burners were removable to allow the lamp font to be filled with fuel and to allow for the replacement of the used wick. There is no spout and no trace of a hinge on the Etruscan bases intended as lamps.

Etruscan base fitted for use as an oil lamp,

Etruscan Majolica oil lamp font base

Having never examined a complete, original Etruscan lamp, I can only speculate on the construction by describing a typical majolica oil lamp. Inside the base usually–but not always–sat a cylindrical metal, glass or ceramic font that was filled with whale oil or kerosene. Sometimes the majolica itself served as the font that was filled with the fuel. Inside the font was a wick that reached to the bottom. On top was a metal ring to which a metal burner unit could be attached. Through the burner the wick emerged with a device that allowed the user to control the flame. The attached burner unit had clips to hold a glass chimney that topped the lamp. The chimney protected from the fire and increased the glow emanating from the burning wick. Portable lamps had attached handles that allowed the user to carry the light from room to room in the dark.

External parts of a portable oil or kerosene lamp

Unfortunately once electricity became common these bases were set aside and their original components discarded. Only once did I see a completely assembled lamp but I don’t believe the burner fittings were original so I didn’t examine the piece. Still, it was being used as intended and not simply shunted aside for lacking a pewter lid. A minor restoration can replace the components that are missing to return the lamp to its original look. It can also be restored to its use as a lamp by using specially made components that are available to electrify the piece. It doesn’t damage the base at all and would only increase its value. This is commonly done among collectors of oil lamps and will bring the past to vivid life again.

Today we don’t think much about the necessities of yesteryear, so these oil lamp bases, having lost their fittings, only look like syrups with broken pewter lids. They’re not that. They are complete on their own as originally intended by the pottery and a reminder of a time before electricity was common.