Antique oil lamps can make any room look better and are a great addition to your house
Oil lamps have been used since biblical times and perhaps earlier so when you’re in the market for antique oil lamps it’s possible to find some truly old stuff on the market. Of course you won’t find something that old and you’ll have to pay a pretty penny for anything that is truly old but if you’re really into this sort of thing it’s well worth the cost. An oil lamp, in its most basic form, is any container that holds oil and a wick of some sort. That wick can be a simple piece of cloth if you’re in a bind and need something quick or it can be a genuine wick that will burn longer and safer. Oil lamps were used regularly for hundreds of years but with the invention of electricity they became largely obsolete and are now relegated to antique status. Why burn an oil lamp if you can just flick a light switch and use that instead?
If you’re looking to buy antique oil lamps then the internet is your best option. You’ll find online stores with loads of options because collectors often like to sell their stuff. If you hit up the big online auction sites you can browse through hundreds and sometimes thousands of listings to find the oil lamps that would look great in your house. There are so many styles to choose from it boggles the mind.
The more artistically created oil lamps will run you more money as they’re done in a higher quality manner and took a great deal more time to create. There are people that make new oil lamps to this day but if you’re in the antiques market those obviously won’t do. Perhaps if you keep them for half a century you’ll be able to sell them as an antique someday. The new ones just aren’t that nice though. It’s all about the antiques.
If you find a truly amazing antique oil lamp it should have a great history to go with it. Imagine if you got your hands on an oil lamp that had been in the palace at Versailles as Louis XIV was ruling France. How great would that be? You could proudly display it in your house and tell everyone that came over the great story of how you got your hands on it and the history behind it. People would sit in rapt attention as you regaled them. An old oil lamp with a history like that is obviously hard to find and would be unbelievably expensive if you managed to find it but that shouldn’t stop you from trying as long as you have the money. Wouldn’t it be cool to own an oil lamp that had been used by settlers in colonial America or a President of the US as he wrote his inauguration speech?
Oil lamps are usually made from a combination of materials. You can expect glass or porcelain for at least part of it. The area that houses the wick is usually enclosed with a hole in the top to let the heat and any smoke produced out. The glass helps to spread the light, thus it’s a necessity in almost any old oil lamp. The rest of the lamp can be almost anything and that’s really the beauty of these things. You can have an ornate brass design to hold the oil or something made from iron. When you’re looking at antique oil lamps you’ll really get a feel for the artist that created it and you’ll no doubt be pleased that you purchased it.
You should think of purchasing an old and beautiful oil lamp like purchasing a piece of art because that’s what it is. It was handcrafted by an immensely talented artisan to both light a room and enhance the beauty of it. It’s much like modern lamps, except it took much more time to create and wasn’t done in a massive assembly line kind of way. A lovely oil lamp is a great addition to any home and no matter what your budget is you’ll be able to find one suitable for you.