The History of the Fairy Lamp

A fairy lamp is a type of glass candleholder with a design that looks like a little house. These glass pieces were a popular decoration in the latter part of the 19th century and into the early 20th century. They were hung with wire around homes and driveways to be lit every night during the Christmas season. They were designed to hold small slow burning candles that would burn all through the night. They were a lot safer than a kerosene lamp or an open candle flame that could cause fires in large areas.

The first fairy lamps were developed in the 1840s. They used a new kind of candle that was short and coated in paper and were very safe as long as they were placed into a cup of water. The cup also provided a cover for the candle that prevented it from being knocked over, which was often a problem with these candles in the open.

In the 1880s Samuel Clarke invented a glass two-part candleholder that incorporated a base, cup for the candle and chimney or shade. These new candleholders were revolutionary in their day since they allowed a candle to be kept lit through the night without fear of a fire from being knocked over and set out into the open air. They also were a lot safer than the kerosene lamps that were common at the time because the glass cover prevented the open flame from getting near anything that could ignite.

Glass for these candleholders was blown and pressed into various designs. Some of the more popular styles included fanciful molded designs, cut and tooled cane, and stipple glass with flecks of mica. Another popular textured design was ribbed glass. These glass pieces had parallel embossed ribs that may have been straight, swirled or reversed swirled.

During the Victorian era, a lot of pressed and cut glass was produced. Many of these glass wares were called Cricklite and there is strong circumstantial evidence that the cut glass Cricklite standards made by Clarke were manufactured by F & C Osler, a leading British glass company that made high end cut glass.

Other popular designs for a glass candleholder included cased and uncased glass. Cased glass is identified by the presence of a colored layer inside the outer layer of clear glass. This style of glass was common in the late Victorian era. Thomas Webb & Sons produced many cases of this type of glass for fairy lamps.

Other types of glass for fairy lamps included a one piece design with a shade that resembled a sombrero that was set on a crimped base. The base is usually a curved or flat surface that fits the cup of the shade and is surrounded by a raised pattern. This type of base is sometimes referred to as a wee or pyramid size base. This type of base is not usually found with a Clarke patented cup as it does not have the necessary air notches in the shoulder of the cup.