Cast Glass Lamp

Conservation

Materials: antique cast glass, brass hardware &
electrical lighting components

A cast glass lamp (measuring 37” tall), with a square glass base, a central glass post, a faux glass oil basin, brass support stems, and brass electrical components with two bulb sockets. The glass is clear and features a prismatic gridded diamond pattern over the entirety of the lamp. 

The central glass post had broken, resulting in 2 to 3 inches of jagged fragmentation on its bottom edge. The lamp was covered in a thin layer of dust which had accumulated in hard to access crevices on the textural surface of the lamp. The electrical components of the lamp were not in working condition. 

Nzilani’s conservation of this lamp consisted of:

• disassembling the entire lamp and cleaning all the glass pieces with in an ultrasonic cleaner

• edge bonding all cracks with a museum grade glass epoxy

• cutting the jagged base of the central glass stem to create a clean, level edge

• re-wiring the lamp and installing new brass support hardware to accommodate the new length of the central glass post, plus adding a bigger footprint