Historical information

The kerosene lamp was one of the most common oil lamps used and was manufactured until the 1980s.

An anchor lamp like the lamps in this pair would be raised on the highest ship mast at night to signal other seafarers that the ship was at anchor or sailing at night. The metal loops on opposing sides of the lamp could hold a pair of rods or ropes. and be used to raise the lamp.

Significance

The lamp is made to the design of a 19th and early 20th-century kerosene anchor lamp carried as essential marine equipment and used as a signal lamp on sailing ships.

Physical description

Lamps; a pair of cylindrical kerosene anchor lamps. Each has a flat back, a hinged door, a metal handle and two metal loops or guides fixed on each side. The glass window is convex and inside the lamp is a wick in an enamel wick holder.