I believe this table lamp is made by Continental, although there is no makers mark on it. It looks like the table and wall lamps that appear in this catalogue posted by Erik (subscribers only): It bears a strong similarity to the Blanchard swan-neck table lamps. There are some oddities about it that perhaps others can help to explain. The first is that it has the tank of a wall lamp with a steel hanger fitted but is in a table lamp configuration. The pipe of the swan neck has a distorted section so I think a past owner turned a wall lamp into a table lamp by straightening the top bend from the pipe. The second is that unlike the lamps in the catalogue it has two taps on the control valve rather than one and an extra pipe which has been cut off. There is a small hole next to the lighting hole which I assume the pipe went through. My first thought was that it was to fill a preheater tray which would imply the fuel was alcohol as paraffin or petrol would smoke too much to be used as a preheater fuel. Another possibility would be some sort of secondary heater for the burner. The vapouriser has a tube orignally packed with asbestos fibres, followed by a little brass thing with holes in it (a diffusor?) followed by a steel jet. The hole in the jet is very large, I am not sure if that is due to corrosion or intentional. I think it is designed for alcohol but I am not sure. I am having trouble getting it running as the flame is too fierce and rich. I think either I need to repair the hole in the jet to make it smaller or re-pack the vapouriser with fibreglass to reduce the fuel flow.
Good luck with the restoration! I'd love to see pics when it is completed. I think this design may be the template for a lot of the stuff sold as steam punk these days
The design strongly suggests "Continental Licht". Yes I'd say you found an "Ideal" wall lamp. compilation of "Ideal type" lamps. Filler cap, valves, nozzle and vaporizer, the whole parts are Continental. To bad it bears no markings as the lanterns and hanging lamps did. The vaporizer filling was meant to filter the fuel and prevent Leidenfrost-Effect . Afik all these lamps were made to run on kerosene. With an orifice so big you could supply fuel for a 1000 CP lamp, maybe more. The strange make of the nozzle with filter tube, diffuser and nozzle itself is specific for Continental and may be called a little over-engineered... The cut-off tube (second valve) is correct just the way it is. You can release fuel from the vaporizer when extinguishing the lamp, so it would smell less and go out faster. The lamp would pre-heat with alcohol. I am not sure about it but I think the three prongs would hold a ring-shaped pre-heating cup. Erik
It looks more like the 372 when studying those illustrations. The riser tube on the 371 is more of a "Swan neck", while the 372 has the same, more strictly shaped one as seen on the lamp posted here. Perhaps the hanger for a wall that's mounted on the rim of the tank is a later, home made attachment. Or perhaps the table version also had it just to make it more versatile.
Ok I made a new jet holder which it tapped to accept a standard Petromax jet. Bit of a pain to unblock it, as there is no cone to guide the needle in. It runs reasonably well on Kero, but it needs a better mantle.
That is a lovely lamp, and well handy to have a reference for the bits my lamp is missing. I have found that a No 4 gas lamp mantle has a ceramic ring that does not fit the burner, but is close and might work with a bit of fettleing.
