Art Institute of Chicago

Pair of Sinumbra Lamps

Cornelius and Company (American, 1839–1851)

Date

c. 1827–31

Medium

Gilded brass, bronze, and glass

Culture

Philadelphia

Department

Arts of the Americas

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

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.

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