I'm not familiar with gas lamps preferring Miller Centerdraft Kerosene lamps instead. I bought the Hugo Pollak lamp thi king it was a Student lamp(which of course it is, but not exactly what I thought I was getting). Not being familiar with mantle type lamps I'm a bit reluctant to attempt a light up. I have managed to find a chimney for it, and have an antique mantle from Welsbach, Sydney, Australia. The lamp has had a coat of varnish at some stage in its life. Happy to chat, Greg
Hi Greg, This is an Alcohol Gravity lamp. You will find a section in the gallery also several discussions on them using the search function. Lacquering brass is typical treatment to avoid oxidation and many lamps w/ raw brass exposure were lacquered as they are expected to be handled regularly. Best, Brian
Welcome to CPL @Greg That's a beautiful lamp, congratulations. Some info here Any info on this beauty?
Hi Greg. Nice to see your beautiful lamp here. As Brian had written above it is an alcohol gravity fed lamp and it seems to be in excellent condition. Yours even has the complete burner gallery which was missing on mine. If you have an intact Welsbach mantle and all connections are tight then why not trying to light it? It needs a very good preheat though. I'm sure you've seen the pictures I'd taken during all the try and error restoration on mine. I'm using a straight chimney without holes like on a French Tito Landi lamp and it works nicely. Please post some pictures if you decide to light it. Happy New Year and happy fiddling. Erwin.
Hi folks. I'm still trying to investigate about Hugo Pollak and their lamps. In the meantime I've found additional information about him and his company structure and also got some more patent information from the Austrian Patent office. I'm still curious to know if the only other lamp I've seen so far has been restored and lights the night again. I've tried to contact the collectors in NZ but didn't get any answer. Does anybody know if that person is still here on the forum or any information on how to contact him? Any help would be very much appreciated. Thanks, Erwin.
