Recognising and understanding the object
- Materials
- glass or sheet metal, wick
- Parts
- fuel vessel, wick
- Purpose
- Provide a small open flame for light.
- Period
- Context of nineteenth- and twentieth-century household collections and historical accounts; individual objects differ in date.
- Place and distribution
- A documented example from Norgeliškės in the Alytus area.
What it is and how it works
A spingsulė is a small wick lamp. Alytus Museum describes simple glass or metal vessels containing kerosene and a wick. The absence of a glass chimney and a more elaborate burner often distinguishes it from the familiar larger kerosene lamp.
Evidence and examples
One museum example from Norgeliškės uses an ink bottle as its reservoir. This is evidence of a particular object being repurposed. It does not mean that all such lamps were ink bottles, or that any old bottle in a collection once served as a lamp.
How to identify it
Look for the wick opening, the stability of the container and a documented earlier use. The wick may not survive, so a view from above can be more informative than the silhouette. Record the making of the vessel separately from its conversion into a light: those events need not have happened at the same time.
