Imagine, you're a child living in ancient Rome. You don't much like the dark, but luckily your family have plenty of lamps to light your villa, and plenty of servants to ensure that the flames are lit in any rooms you want to visit. You even have your own oil lamp in your bedroom, which sits a good distance from your bed (it wouldn't do to knock it over). Of course, oil is expensive, so when you have fallen asleep, it is the responsibility of one of your servants to make sure the flame is extinguished - your father would be very angry if the flame were to burn all night, wasting all that precious oil!
When I took these Roman Oil Lamps to show the children, they were quite confused by what they could possibly be. The children today are of course used to simply flicking a switch and having light, and oil lamps, even of a more modern style, are very unusual indeed. The children were intrigued to discover that these tiny lamps, which fit in the palm of my hand, were once used to light the ancient world. They were amazed that such a small object could have been so important - yet oil lamps were the main source of lighting for thousands of years.
In the ancient world, oil lamps were one of the most common household items and lamps made of stone and shell date back to the stone age! The lamps above date to the Roman era and are made of clay. Sometimes they were beautifully decorated too! They work with a wick which is fed through the spout into the body of the lamp. The big hole in the top is used to fill the lamp with oil and then the wick is lit. The wick would absorb the oil, allowing the oil to burn slowly. Modern wicks are made out of material and are a little bit like the cord in pajama pants. The Romans probably made their own wicks. The oils used by the Romans were usually made from plants, like olive oil. To learn more about Roman Oil Lamps, click here or to see lamps in the Powerhouse collection, click here.
Lamps were used to light homes right through to the 20th century, though their design changed a lot over that time. More modern lamps were made of metal or ceramic and could be very pretty, like the one pictured below. They also had 'chimney's', or glass tubes, which helped to make the light of the flame brighter because the glass reflected it. If you would like to find out more about lamps, click here to visit the Braidwood Original Lamp Shop site.
If you have, or want to buy a lamp, remember - never use Citronella Oil inside. Use proper lamp oil as Citronella is toxic. Also, be careful as they get hot and they are a flame driven light - you don't want any accidents!