Fine and Rare Pair of Regency Gas Light Fittings

Although coal gas was known in Europe to be a flammable fuel for centuries it was not until the 1790s that James Murdoch working with Mathew Boulton and James Watt in Birmingham invented the means to safely use the gas to provide light on an industrial scale.

First lighting his home in 1792, the interior of the Soho Foundry in 1798, and then the exterior of the building in 1802 Murdoch caused a sensation in Britain and there was an extraordinarily rapid development of the new system with the streets of London installing gas lights as early 1807 in Pall Mall.

The new technology attracted the leading designers of the day, and some were in the forefront of developing fittings, both interior and exterior for their clients.

This pair of interior fittings incorporate elements from the designs of Henry Holland, Thomas Hope and George Smith, particularly the winged monopedic lions adorning these pieces.

As the Hope and Smith designs were published in 1807 and 1808 it is entirely possible that the leading Regency designers were involved in these designs.

Solid cast brass

England, probably Birmingham. C. 1810-15

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