Pair of Sinumbra Lamps
Cornelius and Company
c. 1827–31
Medium
Gilded brass, bronze, and glass
Dimensions
H.: 51.4 cm (20 1/4 in.)
Classification
lamp (lighting device)
Department
Arts of the Americas
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
158978
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
This type of lighting device, popularly referred to as a sinumbra (without shadow) lamp, was conceived to help reduce the shadows created by the more elaborate Argand lamp. American firms such as Cornelius and Company may have created sinumbra lamps, perhaps modeled after French examples, in order to compete with European imports. Replete with classically inspired decoration, this pair of lamps would have been used in a fashionable domestic parlor.