Kerosene floor lamp tube with an openwork three-shelf stand, with butterfly decoration

Note

An artistic feature of this lighting fixture and at the same time an interior element of furnished rooms is that the graphic details of the flat openwork decoration are covered with golden lacquer which gives the cast iron item a luxurious appearance and adornment. In the portfolio of the German cast iron foundry in Harzgerode which worked between 1870 and 1936, the main artistic items were ashtrays and openwork what-nots, the latter often being transformed into elegant kerosene floor lamp tube stands. The foundry's items were stamped with a round raised brand with a star-shaped rosace inside and the Latin letter “M” in the center. In the second half of the 1930s, the foundry was renamed “Central Germany Light Metal Works” (“Mitteldeutschen Leichtmetallwerke”). A summary on the foundry “M. Meyer jun. & C°.” is provided in an article of a researcher collector S. S. Nazin “Identification of the European foundries and private foundries based on monograms and brands” in the magazine “Antiquariat, art and collector items”. M., No. 3, April 2007, P. 24–35.