Portable Lantern, Sheet Iron. 19th C.

Cylindrical body opening with a hinged door. Conical roof pierced with 3 cat flaps for the evacuation of smoke. A short brass binet receives the candle. The two windows, as well as the door, are closed with sheets of melted horn. Repair to one and small deformation to the other clearly visible in photos 9 and 11. A conical sleeve placed under the side handles, allows the introduction of a pole. But the absence of any religious decoration deprives this lantern of a processional function. Its vocation remains outdoor pedestrian lighting, in the same way that the candlestick ensures movement inside dwellings. Called excessively, in Basse-Normandie: "lantern of Falaise", this type of lantern gave rise to a folkloric episode in the 19th century. : The legend of the "guy from Falaise", who recounts the nocturnal tribulations of an inhabitant, lit by his lantern in the maze of alleys of the city... Notwithstanding the modesty and the vulnerability of the materials composing it, this lantern reached us in a satisfactory state of conservation. Height: 40cm. Diameter: 15.5cm. 19th century period. Beautiful condition. Free shipping by COLISSIMO for metropolitan France.