A PAIR OF PINK OPALINE VASES CONVERTED INTO OIL LAMPS
Possibly France, ca. 1890 - 1930

Each of baluster-like shape, resting on a stepped and widely splayed circular foot, with a ringed neck surmounted by a copper-alloy Kosmos burner with a round flat wick and circular cog screw stamped Kosmos Brenner, the sides decorated with two moulded black glass decorations in the shape of shells or volutes stemming from a rosette medallion, the tallest 65cm high.

In 1865, the German company Wild & Wessel of Berlin developed the Kosmos burner, a rounded component for oil lamps with a flat wick and side draft used to induce combustion air to the center of the wick circle. In 1884, Emily Wild was granted a special US patent for a Kosmos burner with a flame spreader, similar to ours. This was a revolutionary introduction and radically changed the use of oil lamps, making Kosmos burners particularly sought-after not only in Europe but also in America and in the Middle East. Our vases are likely to have been a special commission from a wealthy Middle Eastern family desiring to keep up with the latest technologies and fashion spearheaded in the West at the turn of the century.