In 1854, the Canadian geologist Abraham Gesner obtained a patent for a lamp oil he called kerosene from the Greek keroselaion, meaning wax oil. It was first manufactured by distilling coal tar and shale oil, but petroleum became the major source after 1859, when Edwin Drake drilled the first petroleum well in Pennsylvania. Compared to other lighting fuels, it was cleaner, relatively safe, and affordable, and it illuminated brightly.

In the ten months between March 1 and December 30, 1862, 623 patents were granted for kerosene burners and lamps. Such lamps were widely used from the 1860s, when kerosene first became plentiful, until the development of electric lighting. This kerosene lamp, with an overall height of just under 35 inches, is among the largest that the Boston and Sandwich Glass Company manufactured. Red, blue, and white are the most common colors in Boston and Sandwich overlay lamps; green shades and amethyst are rarer. Large overlay lamps such as this were costly to manufacture and would have been luxury articles in their day.