Old gas lamp, a bit skew-whiff- # 08/132
Antique Victorian gas lanterns are much treasured these days. What really amazes me is that I can clearly remember, in the 1950s, these street lanterns were still in use and still gas powered with incandescent mantles. (It's worth enlarging the photo to see the delicate little crown pieces at the corner edges).
Always wondered how "skew-whiff" was spelt. Talking of gas lamps reminds me of Ruskins apoplexy over the introduction of those ornate gas lights in Venice - yesterdays modern monstrosity is todays nostalgia
ReplyDeleteSo nice to see that this one has been saved (with electric light of course, but anyhow)! I'm also happy to see that in Paris a large amount of these old fashioned models are still to be seen (or copied when new ones are installed)!
ReplyDeleteIt is nice to save history when you can. I saw one like this the other day on a blog but it was just there and was not a lamp nor had any use except to be there. Amazing.
ReplyDeleteApparently there are still 1600 actual working gas lights in London. There are 6 workers who maintain them all! A large number are in the Royal Parks, but there are other dotted around, such as the entrance to Imperial College and in Middle Temple.
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