HEATING AND LIGHTING UTENSILS IN NATIONAL MUSEUM 51 



FLOAT LAMPS 



The ]ami, consisting of a saucer-like reservoir, in which the wick 

 is floated on oil resting on water, follows nearest the primitive saucer 

 lamps described in the next section. This ancient lighting method 

 appears to be indigenous to the Near East and North Africa, and 

 to have spread from these centers into Europe, and thence in the 

 form of altar lamps and domestic night lights to all quarters of 

 the civilized world. It is probable, or at least worthy of considera- 

 tion, that the contacts of the Crusades were responsible for the Euro- 

 pean distribution. It is evident also that the Moorish conquest of 

 Spain brought the float lamp to Europe. This curious installation 

 of oil on water in a lamp originated in Egypt, and, so far as known 

 from archeologic data, is the oldest lamp. Since any convenient 

 dish would serve for the night light, there is practically little sur- 

 vival of an apparatus as with the lamp. The floats, however, are 

 easily obtained. Hanging float lamps which require more or less 

 complicated means of suspension are frequently observed. The 

 Moros of Mindanao, P. I., make a brass cup for the night light, and 

 this is one of the few vessels devoted to this special purpose. (PI. 44, 

 fig. 3, Cat. No. 329866, E. W. Keyser ; 3.3 inches (8.5 cm.) in diameter, 

 3 inches (7.5 cm.) high.) A hanging float lamp from Tetuan, 

 Morocco, consists of a green glaze saucer with foot, slung in chains 

 fastened to a disk, which in turn is suspended from a flat plate 

 of perforated brass in the form of a bird; also resembling a hand 

 and may be a charm against the evil eye. (PI. 45, fig. 7, Cat. No. 

 (Williams 96) ; bowl, 5,1 inches (13 cm.) in diameter, 14.1 inches 

 (36 cm.) high.) Dr. Talcott Williams also collected a float-lamp 

 chandelier for the mosque having 13 green glaze pottery cups hung 

 in chains from the points and angles of a frame made by super- 

 imposing two equilateral triangles of strap brass. Each lamp is 

 hung immediately from a disk supported by flat cast-brass two-head 

 birds. One lamp is in the middle and a little higher than the others. 

 (PI. 45, fig. 8, Cat. No. 192, Talcott Williams; Morocco; 20.5 inches 

 (52 cm.) in diameter.) The Turkish float-lamp glass for hanging 

 installations is calyx shape with knob at the bottom. The wick is 

 clamped in the junction of three twisted brass-wire tentacles which 

 hook over the edge of the glass. (PI. 46, fig. 1, Turkey; Turkish 

 Commission, World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893; 3.7 

 inches (9.5 cm.) in diameter, 5 inches (12.5 cm.) long.) These 

 glasses are seen in the Turkish chandelier shown on Plate 26. A 

 variation of the float lamp is found in the Near East. They are 

 hanging lamps, often of finely worked brass, in which art this part 

 of the world excels. The metal specimens are domed in the upper 

 part, and fitting under the dome is a cluster of generally three collars, 

 in which are placed the glass tubes which are flanged at the upper 



