Hi all, Here is my first 2013 resto, the 280 CP kerosene/paraffin fed BP Cleary table lamp made 1922-1924. It is made by the British Petroleum Co Ltd London, from patents of Edwin Cleary. This is a very rare lamp and not many survivors are known. During these few years of production there were some variations and improvements done. My lamp has the pre heater cup mounted under the generator, opposed to the one where the pre heater cup I situated in a centre position just above the handle. I believe my lamp is the one with the more efficient pre heater setup,and as there is no stamped date, I will date it till the end of the period 1922-24. Another thing that varies is the pricker control lever/handle. Neil sent me an image of three variations, see image. I believe the pricker lever/handle on my lamp is a fourth one made out of cast brass. If you look at the 1923 ad for this lamp (from Neil), you can be sure that the sewing house wife in the ad would have burned her finger tips on that brass lever of my lamp, as I did. Maybe it originally would have had a wooden handle, as it gets very hot after a while. The resto on this one was mostly a thorough clean up and some minor fettling. The rusty steel tank had to be grinded, sandpapered and polished for hours; the needle was broken and I managed to replace it with a Primus 99x series needle. The shade for this lamp is obviously exclusively made and therefore impossible to obtain, but I got a ´good enough´ replacement. I had to grind the fitter lip down 3 mm for it to fit the shade holder. The burner is made of brass all together, except for the jet, which is made of steel (not so common I believe). The lamp and burner are very robust and well built and when running this is a very silent lamp. In the end this is a very rewarding resto; I tend to love the latest resto lamp the most and this is certainly a very odd and lovely lamp that will be put on a shelf over my wife’s sewing machine. /Conny Hmmm.................here are a couple of ´before´images
Nice restoration job. I like these lamps partly because they are old and rare but also because they are quiet to run and have an odd burner type. I think this example with preheater cup under the generator is a later example when BP realised the offset type was not very good at pre heating. ::Neil::
The tank looks really good in polished shape. Is it clear coated? I guess they were painted in some colour originally, right? Neils lamp looks like it is painted in creme or some other yellowish tone. This lamp has many similarities to the I have, so I can appreciate how well built your lamp must feel! Those heavily built burners with a taper as sealant sure are confident-inspiring.
No, but now that the photo session is finished I will preserve it by clear coating for at least 90 more years. I´m not sure but I think it originally might have been nickel plated. The handle and fuel filler cap, pump knob and mantle holder are plated. Sure there are similarities with the Gold Bros. lamp of yours. I believe Neil has the story!?
Hi Conny another nice old lamp you have here looks great now. All Blanchards have steel jets and most of the kitson as well tho a couple of kitson table lamps i have bit later ones have brass jets so maybe most these early types used the steel jets cheers pete
