19th century oil lamp

19th century oil lamp.
Bronze.
Later electrified. Preserves all the bulbs.
Measurements: 146 x 50 x 27,5 cm.
This laborious and eclectic oil lamp is made entirely of bronze. It has a circular moulded base on which rests a helicoidal shaft, with a regulating key at the top. From this emerges an intermediate body made up of a turned shaft, a moulded plate and a light body that retains all the bulbs. The bulbs are raised on mythological effigies, resembling sea creatures. A set of chains holds the scissors for cutting the candles and the oil container or replenisher, among other utensils for activating the lamp. It culminates in an upper body designed as a standard, topped at the top with two rampant lions resting on a baroque structure, which forks, with two metal sparks decorated with heraldic motifs in relief hanging from them.
A quinque or Calella is a table light with a wick usually powered by oil, of variable luminous intensity, which was the first scientifically designed lamp. It was invented in 1782 by the Swiss physicist Aimé Argand (1855-03) and patented in England in 1784. It was later perfected by the French pharmacist Antoine Arnoult Quinquet (from 1745 to 1803), from which the name is derived. It consists of a wick immersed in a glass, porcelain, metal, etc., tank at the bottom and fitted with a vertical glass tube at the top of the tank. The Argand burner is located between the tank and the glass tube, and consists of a cylindrical wick between two concentric metal tubes. The inner tube provides a passage through which air rises through the centre to maintain combustion on the inner surface of the cylindrical flame rather than on the outer surface. The burner has an adjustment mechanism by means of a wheel which allows more or less ble to be drawn on the outside of the metal tubes, resulting in a larger or smaller flame and, therefore, greater or lesser luminous intensity. The glass tube acts as a chimney and allows air to enter through its lower part, creating a current of air inside which maintains the combustion of the flame and allows the fuel to burn more completely. It also generally has an external decorative flame.