In 1783, the same year the Treaty of Paris brought to a close the American Revolution, the Swiss inventor Aimé Argand developed a lamp, which introduced the first improvements in lighting since classical antiquity. In the years that followed, refinements on these early devices would have a profound impact on people’s lives and lifestyles. 

One of these was the sinumbra lamp, a French innovation of the 1820s. Its name was derived from the Latin sine umbra (without shadow), referring to its oil reservoir being concealed within the shade and, therefore, the flame cast little shadow. Notable among the small number of American examples are a group of miniatures with glass shafts made from clear or black-amethyst glass, some of which are labeled by the New England Glass Company.

Related examples: Six of these lamps are known, including marked examples in the Winterthur Museum and the Corning Museum of Glass, the latter being identical to the present example.