posted on September 29, 2001 05:15:42 PM
I have a large ,45 inches long ,heavy,brass candle lamp?? It is all hand wrought and is said to have come out of a Catholic church in the Seattle area. It has "IHS" in big letters in four places. It is from the late 1800s to early 1900s...not absolutly sure.Very early Seattle Church in any case. I would like to list this item but I have no idea what it is [as it would be used in the church]. Thanks in advance!
posted on September 29, 2001 05:46:17 PM
I have no idea, but the pictures are huge and take quite a while to load, even on my cable connection. You'd best compress them before listing or the auction page will take a long time to load for folks using a dial up.
posted on September 29, 2001 05:49:16 PM
It is called an Altar Lamp.
The only time I have ever seen the flame extinguished is just before midnight on Holy Saturday when it is lit again at midnight to symbolize the Resurrection.
I couldn't remember the exact prescribed use of it so I consulted the Catholic Encyclopedia.
Altar Lamp
The lamp is usually suspended before the tabernacle by means of a chain or rope, and it should hang sufficiently high and removed from the altar-steps to cause no nconvenience to those who are engaged in the sanctuary. It may also be suspended from, or placed in a bracket at the side of the altar, provided always it be in front of the altar within the sanctuary proper (Cong. Sac. Rit., 2 June, I883). The altar-lamp may be made of any kind of metal, and of any shape or form. For symbolical reasons olive oil is prescribed for the lamp burning. Since pure olive oil, without any admixture, causes some inconvenience in the average American climate, oil containing between 60 and 65 per cent of pure olive oil is supposed to be legitimate material. Where olive oil cannot be had, it is allowed, at the discretion of the ordinary, to use other, and as far as possible vegetable, oils (Cong. Sac. Rit., 9 July, 1864).
