Double-Plated Lamp

This kerosene-fueled lamp exemplifies the growing taste for brilliant color and elaborate surface decoration in mid-19th century lighting. The Boston and Sandwich Glass Company produced a variety of lamps and other objects of cased and cut glass. Here, clear, white, and blue glass have been layered and then cut to create an intricate design. When illuminated, the distinctive glass casts patterns of light within a room. This technique was developed by glassworkers from Bohemia (a historic region that now forms much of the Czech Republic), who brought it to the United States.