Empire Three-Light Silver-Plated Bouillotte Lamp

Three-light silver-plated bouillotte lamp with an adjustable shade in sheet metal painted Empire green.

Three tall cylindrical candle sockets, each encircled by a moulded band at mid-height, stand in a circular tray and are joined to the central baluster by crosspieces. Concentric lines decorate the floor of the tray, while a rope-twist border runs around its rim and is repeated at the foot of each socket.

The baluster extends into a square-section rod surmounted by a moulded ring. The tapered shade, painted pale yellow inside, slides along the rod and is held at the desired height by a locking screw with a heart-shaped grip.


Dimensions

• Overall height 58 cm (22.83 in.)
• Tray diameter 20 cm (7.87 in.)
• Maximum shade diameter 32 cm (12.60 in.)
• Total weight 2,565 g (90.48 oz)


Mark

The letters N and M appear on the reverse of one of the components, on either side of a screw.


Condition

Wear to the silver plating, particularly along the rope-twist rim of the tray, and minor marks to the painted shade. The lamp was previously electrified and the wiring has since been removed. The conversion left a hole in the side of the foot, replacement nuts beneath the tray, and rods and washers added inside the candle sockets.

The lamp can be rewired on request.


Historical context

The bouillotte lamp takes its name from a card game akin to brelan. Placed at the centre of the gaming table, the lamp directs light onto the cards and counters. As the candles burn down, the shade can be lowered to keep the flames out of the players’ direct line of sight.

The arrangement of the three candle sockets within the tray around a central baluster closely resembles that of a desk lamp in the Mobilier national (inv. GML 333/001). Both lamps also have a square-section rod topped by a ring and a circular shade in green-painted sheet metal. The Mobilier national lamp belongs to a set of six delivered on 29 June 1812 by THOMIRE, DUTERME ET CIE for Napoleon I’s campaign furnishings.

In 2015, the exhibition "Le Bivouac de Napoléon. Luxe et ingéniosité en campagne" at the Galerie des Gobelins displayed the lamp alongside the Emperor’s table and chair inside the reconstructed campaign tent. The cover photograph of the exhibition press pack shows the lamp in this setting. A separate photograph inside the pack shows it with its travelling case.


Bibliography and exhibitions relating to the Mobilier national lamp

– "Napoléon en campagne", Arc de Triomphe, Paris, 2005, exhibition catalogue, p. 47.
– "Napoleon and the Decorative Arts. Treasures of the Imperial Palaces", Macao Museum of Art, 2013, exhibition catalogue, no. 44, pp. 110–111.
– "Cap sur l’Amérique. La dernière utopie de Napoléon", Château de Malmaison, 2015, exhibition catalogue, p. 74.
– "Le Bivouac de Napoléon. Luxe et ingéniosité en campagne", Galerie des Gobelins, Paris, 2015, exhibition press pack, cover and p. 10, image no. 7.
– "Le Bivouac de l’Empereur. Le luxe impérial en campagne", Wellington Museum, Waterloo, 2019, exhibition press pack, p. 12.
– "Napoléon", Grande Halle de la Villette, Paris, 2021, exhibition catalogue, p. 211.