Having been heavily hunted, the increasing dearness of whale oil led to new forms of fuel such as stearin, extracted from animal fats. Stearin was soft, white, odorless, and solid, and, with the move to plaited wicks from twisted ones, created higher quality candles for less money. By the 1860s, large quantities of petroleum became available, allowing for the mass manufacture of today’s paraffin candle.

With the development of the candle came the candle holder. The elaborate candelabra of Europe of the 18th century, rooted in the ancient designs of the Near- and Far-East, were the inspiration for early lighting in America. Although large quantities of lighting fixtures were imported from England during the 18th century, this period also marked the beginning of American manufacture, with the English influence evident in the early lighting of Virginia and New England, later in New York; the Dutch in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania; the Spanish in Florida, and the French in Louisiana.

However, most colonists only had a few candleholders and families would gather around one or two at night instead of illuminating an entire room. Except for a home’s entryway, very little illumination was the norm outside of the most wealthy, urban homes. Interestingly, the practice of conserving light continued even after lamps were introduced in the 19th century.

Argand, a Frenchman, invented the first adjustable lighting device or lamp in 1783. Not only did the Argand Burner allow the user to control the level of light emitted, it also provided a brighter and cleaner lighting source via a metal burner and a fuel reservoir. Although Thomas Jefferson quickly introduced the Argand lamp to America, they were only common in parlors of the wealthy because of their cost and the increasing price of better grades of whale oil, which was required for efficient operation.

Finally, by the 1840s, a reliable method of combining inexpensive lard oil with the efficient combustion of the Argand Burner plus the addition of a metal “solar cap” that forced more oxygen to the flame came about, allowing for wider distribution of lighting devices. The resulting solar lamp reduced the amount of smoke produced from burning cheaper oils while dramatically increasing the brilliancy of the light.

Even with these developments, though, candles remained in use into the Victorian era. They were easily portable, in great supply, inexpensive, and flattering to one’s complexion! It is amazing how little artificial light was commonly available or used before the pervasive adoption of gas, kerosene, and electricity in the late 19th century.

History by Fixture Type

Chandeliers
While Italian and Spanish chandeliers were at their zenith in Europe during the 18th century, only faint traces of their influence can be found in American examples, whose designs were born of necessity and characterized by variety and ingenuity - two distinctly American traits. For example, in the turnings of period church and meetinghouse chandeliers can be found the composite, baluster stem of the classic vase and urns of the Italian Renaissance. Lanterns whose sides taper sharply towards the bottom reflect this same influence.

The first attempts by American craftsmen to emulate such high style resulted in exaggerated and often disproportionate examples. This ignorance gave birth to a truly staggering variety of ingenious renditions, reflecting the early American’s source of inspiration from shapes borrowed from his surroundings - some familiar, some new: the goblet, vase, urn, mug, globe, oval, acorn, egg, pineapple, lemon, drum, bulb, bell, spike and tulip. Wood-turned balusters supported thin iron arms, octopus fashion, on the ends of which perched the candles and bobeches. From primitive to elaborate settings, it was not long before chandeliers were the most decorative feature of the room. Ingenuity rather than art, clever adaptation rather than originality, marked colonial lighting. Still, the earliest known American chandeliers of the 17th century were nothing more than simple hoops and crossbeams, variants of the Continental style.

Tin, wood, and iron were used almost exclusively in early American lighting. Silver, crystal, and glass were most certainly imported by only the wealthy. Wood turned chandelier centers were usually painted while the arms were of tin and wire. Glass chandeliers, both domestically-made and imported, became more common in America in the early 19th century but the majority of chandeliers made in the colonies were wood and tinned sheet iron. Until 1890 tinned sheet iron was imported from mills in England and Wales.

Very few original lighting fixtures from the Colonial period exist today. Those that reproduce such fixtures have generally drawn their designs from earlier reproductions, from photographs in books, or from museum collections.

Once rather simple lighting devices, chandeliers have evolved into a statement of taste. Nowadays, they are often the pieces de resistance of a well-decorated dining room or kitchen.

Sconces
Bewildering in their numbers and often found in pairs, sconces are yet another example of American clever inventiveness. Always made for a purpose, they directed light, magnified light, collected dripping wax, and provided a smoke and fire shield for the burning candle. Most were primitive in design and made from tinplate or sheet iron. More formal one having concave, round mirror backs and were in great vogue as early as 1730. Those made of the more expensive materials are extremely rare. Brass and pewter, for example, were forged into gun parts and molded into bullets during the Revolution.

Whether primitive or sophisticated, early candle sconces are difficult to date. The variety of forms seems inexhaustible and they owe as much to the imagination of their makers as to the general fashion of the times. In general, however, circular sconces with bracket arms tend towards the 17th and 18th centuries. Those sconces with drip pans on protruding arms are by far the rarer specimens and can be used effectively in providing light to a mirror.

Oval sconces date to the late 1700's while rectangular ones date to the early 19th century. The evolution of these shapes paralleled improvements in candle making. The increased lengths of later sconces, which sometimes incorporate reflectors and heat shields, accommodated longer, slower burning candles.

     

Sconces were often hung from a wrought iron nail or mounted on a simple wall bracket at eye level and were often used in pairs to satisfy the early taste for symmetry in interior design.

Today, sconces offer unique decorative flexibility. Readily moved or relocated, they can easily be incorporated into any future decorating decisions with out losing value, usefulness, or appeal. They provide much needed sources of light as well as aesthetic beauty to wall areas and room locations often forgotten or ignored. Because of the variety of shapes used by our forebears, do not hesitate to mix a selection of forms.

Lanterns
Lanterns were designed to provide shelter from the vagaries of wind and weather for a burning candle or lamp. Its origin is lost to antiquity. The Greeks were no better informed, as in the 2nd century A.D. Alexis of Thurii commented: "Whoever invented the first lantern, to carry when he set forth at night, was certainly very careful of his hands." Quite a number of them were excavated at Herculaneum and they are the oldest examples available. They had bronze frames, a vented dome and horn panes to transmit the feeble light from within. Lantern design has changed little over centuries of time.

Lanterns are divided into two groups, portable and fixed. The latter are usually identified by their location of use i.e., ships lanterns, street lanterns, post lanterns, carriage lamps, hall lanterns, etc. Portable types are classified by their materials, shape, or purpose such as pierced, horn, bullseye, wooden, tin or globe lanterns.

Early American lanterns were purely utilitarian, often square and plain in structure, whose original function was merely to shield a burning candle. Most were primitive in design and made from tinplate or sheet iron. In Colonial America, lanterns were called “lanthorns”.

Legend has it that a windowless, pierced lantern was used to signal Paul Revere from the belfry of the Old North Church of the arrival of the British, a noble task for an ignoble lantern. We can be sure that such a lighting device could never have been seen from across the Charles River. Nevertheless, these pierced lanterns are named after the famous patriot and the legend persists.

After the Revolutionary War several factors, both at home and abroad, profoundly influenced the direction of lighting. In 1750, in Quincy, MA, glass was manufactured for the first time in this country. And the advent of glass signaled the truly artistic evolvement of our lantern, culminating during the Federal Period.

Secondly, as mentioned above, Argand’s lamp from 1783 radically altered and improved lighting forever. It had a font that dispensed oil to a flat circular wick where it burned on both the inner and outer surfaces. In the same year Quinquet, another Frenchman, pirated Argand's invention and added a glass chimney, creating a draft, thus greatly intensifying the amount of artificial light. By 1840 these lights and innumerable patent lights of similar design were in widespread use.

Streets in most American cities 200+ years ago were lighted primarily by reflections from doorway lanterns. Few townships had established provisions for public street lighting. Boston was probably the first. In the early 1700's cressets or iron baskets hung from poles with pine knots as fuel and were used to light busy intersections. Some towns passed laws making it mandatory for every sixth house to have a post lantern or a torch to provide the requisite illumination.

By the 1770's the city of Boston had large numbers of post lanterns of English manufacture, fueled by whale oil, lighting its streets. By 1751 Philadelphia's streets were also lighted, thanks to Benjamin Franklin. Ever resourceful, he discovered that two wick tubes burning side by side a certain distance apart gave more light than two separate burners. Different fluids were also experimented with. One such fuel was camphene. A combination of turpentine and alcohol, camphene burned very brightly, but was extremely dangerous.

The gaslight was introduced in this country around 1800, while in Europe, London first switched to gas in 1807. The beautiful Westminster Bridge was lit by gas in 1813, as were Paris streets in 1818. Several significant discoveries increased the brilliance of the gas light: pinching the end of the gas tube to a fan shape, mixing air with the gas before the point at which it was lit, and surrounding the flame with a mantle of metallic oxide cloth until it glowed brighter than the flame. All were important innovations in the quest for more light.

Today lanterns mounted outside the home are both decorative and functional. They provide accent and ambient lighting for visitors to safely reach your door.