I think this is so cool! This American nineteenth century oil lamp recently surfaced in Pennsylvania, although I suspect it was manufactured at the Goodwin Brothers Pottery in Elmwood, West Hartford, Connecticut. I explain the details of this type of lamp production by the Goodwin Brothers as part of a chapter in my forthcoming book, titled, A City on the River: The Early Red Earthenware of the Hartford, Connecticut Area; although, it may be surprising to learn that oil lamps were in fact a part of the Goodwin Brothers production in the 1880s and 1890s. The company regularly advertised lamps on envelopes, billheads and printed advertising (and sometimes the lamps were even illustrated); however, there are very few documented examples known to survive today.
Nonetheless, as I explain in the book, the Goodwin Brothers were not exclusive to the manufacture of pottery - they also sold objects like cast iron wall mounted arm holders for flowerpots and oil lamps, which they acquired wholesale from a local manufacturer. Interestingly, the iron base on this lamp closely matches how some of the flowerpot and lamp holders appear.
But what I find most appealing about this object is the painted rustic red earthenware oil lamp body; the style is very similar to umbrella stands and a variety of floral wares made by the Goodwin Brothers found in company catalogs from the 1880s that are owned by the Noah Webster House & the West Hartford Historical Society. I suspect the brass and the glass parts of the lamp were also produced by an American manufacturer, which I find intriguing, seeing that the production of this piece essentially may have required four different manufacturers and then it had to be assembled.
A Rare American 19th Century Oil Lamp with a Red Earthenware Body
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