Cornelius Solar Lamp Patent Model
date: label: patent date
content: 1843-04-06
name: label: inventor
content: Cornelius, Robert
notes: label: Description
content: Robert Cornelius submitted this patent model in his patent application that received patent number 3,028 on April 6, 1843. The novel innovation in Cornelius’s lamp was its ability to burn lard and other concrete fat with a minimal amount of heat. This allowed lamps to use cheap lard for fuel instead of the costly whale oil that had dominated the lamp industry prior. The lamp used a deflector that heated a tube leading to the fuel, providing no more metal to heat the lard than was absolutely required. Cornelius’s lamp outsold those fueled by expensive whale oil, making his company the largest lighting company in America. Cornelius also attempted to perfect the daguerreotype photographic process, taking the first-ever self-portrait in 1839.
place: label: associated place
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Domestic Life
label: See more items in
content: American Enterprise
label: See more items in
content: Domestic Furnishings
label: Exhibition
content: American Enterprise
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: DL.331356
label: catalog number
content: 331356
label: patent number
content: 3,028
label: accession number
content: 88881
objectType: label: Object Name
content: lamp
label: Object Type
content: Lighting Devices
label: Object Type
content: Patent Model
label: Object Type
content: Lighting Devices
label: Other Terms
content: lamp; Lighting Devices; Oil
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: fit together (base connector/connecting technique)
label: Physical Description
content: fit together (reflector connector/connecting technique)
label: Physical Description
content: fit together (reservoir connector/connecting technique)
label: Physical Description
content: inserted (base connector/connecting technique)
label: Physical Description
content: inserted (burner connector/connecting technique)
label: Physical Description
content: inserted (push-up connector/connecting technique)
label: Physical Description
content: inserted (reservoir connector/connecting technique)
label: Physical Description
content: brass (base material)
label: Physical Description
content: brass (burner material)
label: Physical Description
content: brass (push-up material)
label: Physical Description
content: brass (reflector material)
label: Physical Description
content: brass (reservoir material)
label: Physical Description
content: tin (base material)
label: Physical Description
content: tin (reservoir material)