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![Blende Lamp Closed Face LSide.JPG - BLENDE LAMP GLASS FRONT - Freiberger-type Blende lamp, glass front screen, wooden box lined with sheet brass, with brass hook and brass coo-coo oil wick lamp and candle sleeve, 9 1/4 in. H x 4 in. W x 3 1/2 in. D [The Blende style lamp was used by German miners as early as the mid-1700s and continued in use in the Saxon Erzgebirge silver mining region until the early 20th century. The basic Blende was a wooden box with an open front and a top rounded in a semi-circle shape. The 1/4 in. wooden walls were lined with sheet copper or brass to protect the wood from the flame’s heat and to provide a reflective surface for the lamp. It was equipped with a full-length hook on the back side either for hand carrying, hanging from an ore cart or hanging from a leather thong around the miner’s neck. While the term Blende only applies to the wooden box, the actual lighting device was either a candle (mounted in a metal candle sleeve) or a spherical-shaped brass oil wick lamp called a coo-coo lamp. Later models of Blende lamps such as the one shown here were equipped with a sliding door with a glass window which could be stowed in a slot on the backside. The typical coo-coo lamp mounted inside the Blende included a spherical chamber for oil or lard, a wick spout near the top and a filler opening stoppered by a cork and/or chain-mounted metal cap. A cylindrical female connector was attached to the base for mounting on a plug or post on the bottom of the Blende. Miners occasionally removed the coo-coo lamp from the Blende and, using a lump of clay, could affix the lamp nearer the work surface. The Blende is best known from the Freiberg mining district of Saxony but its use is also known from the Saxon coal mines near Lugar, Zwickau and Plauen. The Blende was a rather fragile device and many were broken or destroyed through heavy use. As a result, few have survived and nice examples in good condition are exceedingly rare. See Zecha, Mining Artifact Collector #15, pp 34-36 and Pohs, The Miner’s Flame Light Book, pp 104-110]](Blende Lamp Closed Face LSide.JPG) |
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| Blende Lamp Closed Face LSide | BLENDE LAMP GLASS FRONT - Freiberger-type Blende lamp, glass front screen, wooden box lined with sheet brass, with brass hook and brass coo-coo oil wick lamp and candle sleeve, 9 1/4 in. H x 4 in. W x 3 1/2 in. D [The Blende style lamp was used by German miners as early as the mid-1700s and continued in use in the Saxon Erzgebirge silver mining region until the early 20th century. The basic Blende was a wooden box with an open front and a top rounded in a semi-circle shape. The 1/4 in. wooden walls were lined with sheet copper or brass to protect the wood from the flame’s heat and to provide a reflective surface for the lamp. It was equipped with a full-length hook on the back side either for hand carrying, hanging from an ore cart or hanging from a leather thong around the miner’s neck. While the term Blende only applies to the wooden box, the actual lighting device was either a candle (mounted in a metal candle sleeve) or a spherical-shaped brass oil wick lamp called a coo-coo lamp. Later models of Blende lamps such as the one shown here were equipped with a sliding door with a glass window which could be stowed in a slot on the backside. The typical coo-coo lamp mounted inside the Blende included a spherical chamber for oil or lard, a wick spout near the top and a filler opening stoppered by a cork and/or chain-mounted metal cap. A cylindrical female connector was attached to the base for mounting on a plug or post on the bottom of the Blende. Miners occasionally removed the coo-coo lamp from the Blende and, using a lump of clay, could affix the lamp nearer the work surface. The Blende is best known from the Freiberg mining district of Saxony but its use is also known from the Saxon coal mines near Lugar, Zwickau and Plauen. The Blende was a rather fragile device and many were broken or destroyed through heavy use. As a result, few have survived and nice examples in good condition are exceedingly rare. See Zecha, Mining Artifact Collector #15, pp 34-36 and Pohs, The Miner’s Flame Light Book, pp 104-110] |  Original Image |
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