Wall lamp

Sconce, one of eight identical pieces in the collection of the museum. A sconce is a lamp or candleholder, most commonly wall-mounted, frequently with a glass or metal mirror to reflect the light. Initially, sconces were standing lamps, most commonly used until kerosene lamps were introduced. A characteristic trait of theirs was the placement of the burner beside the oil container, and not on top of it. In the 1780s, hanging sconces were used, which quickly became a commonplace decorative interior design feature. The described sconce is one of eight decorating the representative interior of the first floor in the castle of Łańcut. They stem from the years 1800-1802 and were designed to amend the decorations of this hall. Their author is most likely Piotr Aigner, a known architect working on commission by duchess Izabela Lubomirska, wife of marshal Lubomirski, the last owner of Łańcut to stem from the Lubomirscy family. The neoclassicist sconces (white, fitting in to the stucco work of this interior) are made of gypsum wood. They have a small trunk in the form of a rosette in three acanthus leaves, from which the three arms of the candle holder protrude. The round bobeches are decorative leaves, and the candle sleeves were made from vertically arranged leaves. As a light source, the candle was in common use until the invention of the light bulb, meaning, until the 19th century, afterwards its use was guided by aesthetic considerations. Candles were known in antiquity, their wicks were made of linen coated with beeswax, with the homes of those less well off using animal tallow (tallow candles). The sconces frame the mirrors that are found above the two symmetrically-designed fireplaces.