Adams gives a description of how Argand lamps work, prefaced by the words:
“The following account of the method of managing them, with other observations, is
copied from an account given by Mr. Parker with those he sells” . Van Marum
visited Parker’s glass shop on 15 and 21 July, 1790, during his stay in London.
According to an advertisement accompanying a printed letter of Magellan, of 1777
(see Cat. 181), W. Parker’s premises were at 69 Fleet Street.
Adams (1787) 70-73; Ebeling (1789) 64; Encyclopaedia Britannica 1797,} art. “ Lamp” ;
Schroder (1969).
Inv. 50/1.
345 SCALE BOARD c. 1798 (1093) Fig. 307, 308
Probably by Schroeder, Gotha.
Board 725 x 125 x 15.5.
Soft-wood board covered with paper on both sides. Various scales are inscribed by
hand in ink: five scales of about two feet in length divided into inches and; lines
(1 /12 inch). These are marked: Franse, Rhinlandse, Amsterdamse, Engelse, Holl.
Palm. Four more scales are marked out with transversals, and labelled : Engelse-Voetl
Amsterdamse-Voet, Engelse-Yards, Amsterdamse Ellen.
While on hisjourney through Germany, Van Marum records that on 11 July, 1798,
he ordered from the Mechanicus Schroeder: “Een metrum met Eng. Fransche en
Rhijnl. maat, volgens opgaave van Hr. de Zach” .
Van Marum (L & W ii 1970) 123, 304.
346 DISTILLATION APPARATUS 1790 (n il! Fif^og
Impressed mark on base: WEDGWOOD 4. There is also a V-shaped mark.
Overall height 460, height to top of cylinder 413; height of pedestal 215, diameter
at top 173; height of condenser cylinder when separate 258, diameter at top 152.
This apparatus is made of cream-coloured glazed earthenware, known as Queen’s
Ware. It is in two parts, a pedestal, with two large, loop handles, and an upper
portion consisting of a cylinder with a conical inner part. Tbe pedestal is pierced with
an aperture to admit an oil-and-wick lamp, and with vents above. This pedestal is
easily recognized as a base of a veilleuse, a form of food or tea warmer, popular during
the period 1750—1850. The upper cylinder, however, appears to be an example of a
hitherto unremarked form. This upper cylinder has a rim on the outside to rest on top
of the pedestal, and at the same level on the inside is the base of a conical, central
section that rises to an apex decorated by an acorn. Inside the base of the cone is
a lip or gutter, which can be drained by a tube (now shortened by breakage)
protruding from the side of the cylinder. The part between the inside of the cylinder
and the outside of the cone is also drainable by a spout on the outside. It would
seem that the apparatus is to be used to condense the products of combustion from
the lamp on the inside of the cone, which can be cooled by an ice and water mixture
(for exampJM); In the upper section. This upper portion functions in a manner similar
to an alembic head.
A second apparatus of this type has a similar pedestal, signed: WEDGWOOD,
but using a larger stamp (37 mm wide as opposed to 26 mm; these stamps correspond
to the period 1785—1795). The upper cylinder is of the same form, but broken.
Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795) became the best-known English potter, and he
supplied retorts of glazed earthenware and porcelain among other chemical apparatus.
The Wedgwood 1802 shape book, pattern no. 814, shows an apparatus of the above
type labelled as a “ still” ; it was priced at 15 shillings. It had a central section to hold
the mother liquor.
Van Marum bought over £ 30 worth of equipment from him in 1790, including
“Een steenen disdlleerketel” for 12 shillings (MV).
Mankowitz (1953) fig. 11, 26; Newman (1967) 35; Crellin (1969) 195-208; Bruce
Tattersall, Curator, Wedgwood Museum, private communication 1973.