I have the opportunity to pick up this lamp for $70 plus shipping. I don't know enough about Tilleys to judge its value. Is it worth it? The seller is of the opinion that it has never been lighted. It hung in a friend's home for quite a while, and now he's selling it for them. Help?
Absolutely worth it, no question - that's usually a three figure lamp on eBay UK. That's GBP not USD as well... It's a Tilley KL80 a.k.a. 'The Victor' when Tilley were giving names to their stuff. It's missing a reflector and smoke deflector but will work without them. Also the globe is incorrect - it came, originally with a 284 frosted shade. These were very difficult to obtain but a batch has come onto the market recently. Strike while the iron's hot! The pump looks like one from an X246A lantern, but maybe it's an export version or something. Not a major problem, anyway. Perhaps these are all bartering points to get the price down even more! See Neil's lamp - [url=http://0flo.com/index.php?threads/530
Thank you! The seller is working out the shipping cost for me, so I'll be ready to send him the money when he gets back to me.
I didn't haggle on this one since it appears that it's already a very good value. Does anyone out there ever do dimensional drawings for things like the smoke bell and reflector? Shipping from the UK is high, and we have a local tin-smith (Amish) that could work from a drawing. I may end up selling it, but I'll just hang it and enjoy its elegance for a while first
Hello Al, that's a good deal, the link below shows the 1955 Tilley catalogue, that lamp is shown in it, Jeff. http://0flo.com/index.php?threads/421
Looks like you got the insect shields on this one. I've learned here (on the site) that this was fairly common on export lamps.
These are mine waiting patiently in the fettling queue:- I've had them a number of years and I think I paid about the same for them (each) as you're paying - except yours is in unfired condition. They're more-or-less as they arrived here and are in typical used condition. One globe is missing and the other globe is a later, incorrect replacement. I now have the correct 284 globes for them. The smoke deflectors are, in fact, brass ashtrays which I added later - a blind man on a galloping horse wouldn't notice they were replacements, though... So I think you're getting an absolute bargain given the rarity and condition of your lamp... Please note:- 1. I apologise for that crappy Anchor Petromax clone in the background; 2.I am positively NOT the person responsible for painting that PL53 in Canary Yellow! Don't blame me - that's how it arrived here...
