Dublin Lanterns in Bronze with Copper Domes, Holophane Dual Glass Shades 1930's

Dublin Lanterns in Solid Bronze with Copper Domes and Holophane Dual Glass Shades c1938. Old Plank has been importing from Ireland since 1992 and these Dublin Holophane Bronze and Copper Lanterns must be one of our all-time favorite discoveries. Not only are the Dublin Lanterns beautiful, but their build quality is insane for they are more like precision works of art, than commercial lighting. The exterior glass is both frosted and ribbed, while the interior has a double Holophane inner and outer shade, which we have never seen prior. To us, it is obvious that there was no budget in mind when these were designed in the 1930’s, for it would have been difficult to make them more expensive to produce. Whomever the manufacturer was and there are some experts who think it was Bleeco, on St Martin’s Place, which was founded in 1921 in Brighton by Ernest Heaps, who remained its managing director until 1961 when the firm was purchased by Haven Foundries. While others thought they were French produced. The fact that the interiors of the lanterns have the dual-wall English Holophane Shades, I would tend to lean towards Bleeco. The Bronze and Copper Lanterns were installed in the city of Dublin in 1938 by Mr F. X. Algar, who was then head of the Lighting Section of the Irish Electricity Supply Board. Originally these Copper and Bronze Lanterns lit O'Connell Street mounted on beautiful double armed art-deco concrete columns (made in France by Sofrapel). The O'Connell installation was removed in 1973, while some managed to hang on into 1990s. Now only a handful remain, clustered around Dublin College. We will break up the pairs and offer them individually as well.

**Condition: Rewired. Replacements made: We restored the broken glass and re-wired the lanterns for the American market. The patina is all original and not faux finished. Wear consistent with age and use. Minor fading.