The manufacture of Argand lamps in Philadelphia

Magazine Antiques, Feb, 2002 by R. Curt Chinnici

The Argand lamp initiated a chain of events that has led to our present method of lighting rooms, In the l780s Ami Argand (1750-1803) of Switzerland invented an oil lamp burner with a tubular wick that allowed air to flow up through the hollow middle of the wick as well as around the outside of it, making the flame burn brighter than any other lamp. Immediately popular, these lamps were produced in great numbers in England and France. Thanks to Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and other Americans who had lived abroad and brought Argand lamps home with them, they also became popular in the United States. (1) Between 1785 and 1843 they represented the most advanced lighting in the United States. Although the Argand burned as brightly as ten candles, it was always supplemented by candles, according to Philadelphia inventories taken between 1790 and 1840.

During the first part of the nineteenth century, English-made Argand lamps in various shapes and decorative styles were retailed in the United States. The most common type had a weighted base that supported the oil font, which was typically vase shaped. The shape is probably the reason these lamps are called in some inventories "vase" lamps. (2) The lamp fuel in the United States was whale oil, (3) with a higher quality used in winter because it heated more easily. With the spread of Argand lamps, the price of whale oil increased so that only the upper middle class and the wealthy could afford to light their houses with them.

The firm of Leadbeater and Sheldon was established in 1809 as a patent lamp manufacturer, according to the Philadelphia directory of that year. The business included a foundry for making lamp parts as well as an assortment of hardware. Between 1815 and 1819 the firm ran a retail business for lighting and related services (see Fig. 1). In addition to making and repairing lamps and selling wicks and lamp oil, the firm rented lamps for parties and assemblies. The company disappears from the Philadelphia directories in 1842.

In Philadelphia craftsmen made Argand lamps to compete for a share of the market. The most prolific manufacturers there were John Leadbeater (d. 1856) and Christian Cornelius, but the first makers were craftsmen such as jewelers and copperplate makers for whom the lamps were a sideline. (4) One of the earliest manufacturers of the lamps was Peter Geley (d. 1815), who was listed in the 17 99 Philadelphia directory as a jeweler and lapidary. However, his will and inventory in addition to tools of the jewelry trade, list many items indicating that he was making patent lamps. (5)

When the Philadelphia lampmaker Job S. Gold died in 1844 the inventory of his shop listed many kinds of shades, globes, finished and unfinished lamps, marble bases, pine oil, wicks, French shades, paper shades, imported lamps, brass parts for lamps and store fixtures, and many tools used to turn brass sheets into lamps. In the inventory accompanying his will Gold held "patents rights" assessed at $150. (6)

The growing production of Argand lamps in Philadelphia can be traced in the exhibition reports published by the Franklin Institute, which was formed in 1824 to provide a forum for sharing ideas about inventions and other innovations in the applied sciences and industry. Between 1824 and 1874 all types of manufactured products were displayed at the institute's annual exhibition, and silver medals were given for works judged exceptional. Catalogues of these shows are a mine of information, including the comments of the judges on the quality and workmanship of the objects.

The judge of the lighting exhibits in the 1826 Franklin Institute exhibition was Thomas Fletcher (1787-1866), a well-known Philadelphia silversmith and jeweler He reported:

A sample of Mr. Leadbeater's original productions with the workmanship fully equal to the best imported articles of the same pike. That they have carefully examined the different articles exhibited and find that the brass lamps were from two manufactories only Mr. Leadbeater and Mr. Cornelius of this city. In the lamps from Mr. Leadbeater we see nothing very superior to what they have made for several years. but we think the work is fully equal to those of the same description usually imported from England. (7)

As revealed by the annual exhibition reports, domestic lighting varied from candlesticks to sophisticated astral lamps (a variation of the Argand lamp) in 1824. In 1826 candlesticks had disappeared from the Franklin Institute exhibitions and Argand lamps appeared to dominate. In the 1830s Argand lamps became increasingly complex, and stands for lamps were included in the show in 1831. In 1840 gas fixtures by Cornelius and Company are described in its report In 1843 a solar lamp was introduced in the United States by Cornelius, which patented them in the same year. This lamp burned lard using an adaptation of the Argand burner and caused the institute judges to comment that the solar lamp will "aid the vision of a far greater number our citizens than will the more showy and expensive chandeliers." (8) After 1843 Argand lamps seem to fade from the exhibitions.