Offered here is an authentic 19th-century Victorian brass skater’s lantern, standing approximately 7.5 inches tall. Originally designed in the post-Civil War period to provide wind-resistant, portable lighting for evening ice skaters and pedestrians, these compact hurricane-style oil lamps have become highly collectible lighting artifacts.

Constructed of solid brass, this example features a stepped conical base font, a perforated ventilation collar, and a removable dome cap with round draught holes. The original wire bail handle attaches smoothly to the cap ring, allowing the lantern to be easily carried or hung. Inside, the original burner remains fully intact, complete with its flat wick guide and functional thumbwheel turning mechanism. The clear glass globe features a delicate hour-glass profile designed to shield the small flame from gusting winter winds.

This piece has been preserved in original condition with no polishing, modifications, or modern reproduction parts.

• Material: Solid Brass, Tin Plate (base insert), Hand-Blown/Molded Clear Glass Globe

• Height: 7.5 inches (excluding bail handle)

• Origin: United States

• Circa / Age: Victorian Era, c. 1870s–1880s

Condition: Excellent antique condition. The brass body exhibits a warm, rich, untouched original patina with minor surface oxidation and light wear appropriate to age. The removable perforated top cap fits securely and retains its original brass wire bail handle. The clear glass globe is intact with typical light rim friction wear and manufacturing irregularities (small straw marks and seed bubbles) consistent with 19th-century glass production. The burner assembly features a functioning flat wick raiser thumbwheel and intact wick tube. The underside of the stepped brass base displays light tin-plate surface corrosion consistent with age and period manufacturing techniques.

Authenticity Assessment

This skater's lantern displays all key markers of an authentic late 19th-century original:

• Metalwork & Assembly: Hand-rolled and crimped brass seams with a non-magnetic tin-plated steel bottom disk insert inside the foot rim, characteristic of 1870s–1880s American construction (such as Holmes, Booth & Haydens or Plume & Atwood designs).

• Glass Characteristics: The clear glass globe displays classic period traits including slight asymmetry, microscopic seed bubbles, subtle mold lines, and light friction wear along the top and bottom fitter edges.

• Burner & Threads: The threaded burner assembly uses period fine-pitch threading and features an original brass thumbwheel and slotted wick sleeve. It lacks modern metric pitch threads, stamped country-of-origin marks (e.g., "Made in Taiwan" or "India"), or modern artificial distressing common in 1970s reproduction skater lamps.

Reference

• Book Title: Oil Lamps III: Victorian Kerosene Lighting

• Author: Catherine M. V. Thuro

• Page / Reference: Page 215, Figure E (referencing 19th-century patented brass hurricane and skater lantern variations)

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