Boiler list big update!

[Jonas Clark-Elliott]

Check the photos list for the updated list of French boilers. For those new to these, they're a peculiar subset of liquid motion lamps made in (mostly) France in the 1970s. They were made of handblown glass using laboratory glassware techniques, and are made of blown glass in one piece, in most cases permanently sealed at the top. The light bulbs are hidden in some models, either by frosting the inner walls of the bulb chamber or by wrapping the lamp in a sheet of chrome-colored foil, and a very few simply paint the glass instead or use black glass for the base. Most lamps stand on a flared foot that is integral to the unit; in these, everything becomes one solid unit of blown glass, with the socket and bulb slid up into the chamber in the bottom. A few rest in purpose-made bases with the socket built in; most are metal but examples exist in marble/alabaster and molded translucent resin.

 

A few maker's names are found on stickers applied to the lamps, but very little other information about these lamps is known save that they were sold in France, the UK and possibly Italy in the early 1970s.

 

Most of these lamps operate based on a simple principle.

"Boilers" have a lower chamber filled with a volatile liquid such as methylene chloride or ethyl alcohol, which have a low evaporation point. When heated by the bulb or, in the case of the non-electric models, by the warmth of your hand, the liquid evaporates. Pressure from this vapor, which cannot easily diffuse back into the warm liquid, forces the liquid up a pipe or tube into an upper chamber. When the liquid level falls low enough in the lower chamber, the seal between liquid and pipe breaks and the pressurized vapor rushes up the pipe, creating bubbles and an exciting "boiling" action in the upper chamber. Some basic boilers start empty and slowly fill up, 'boil', drain and start over; others begin mostly full, and then 'percolate' every so often. Most boilers employ some sort of interesting shape between the lower and upper chambers - a coiled pipe, bubbles, bends, zig-zags, necked and stretched chambers, etc. - to change the effect of the rising vapor bubbles and/or change how active or sedate is the boiling action. 

 

"Glitter boilers" encase a boiler inside a glitter lamp. A glitter lamp sans boiler is also on the list because it is all-glass and was made by a firm making boilers.

 

"Fountain boilers" use the rising pressure to squirt the liquid, which is forced up the pipe by the bubbles, out of a cluster of glass nozzles. Holes around the periphery allow liquid back into the base. A few very complex models have a lower fountain, which is then connected to an intermittent upper fountain, which cycles when the lower fountain's chamber builds up pressure; a long drain pipe then returns liquid to the base.

 

"Bubblers" contain the volatile liquid, clear or colored. Heat causes the liquid to evaporate at the top and, as pressure builds, the vapor must diffuse back into the liquid. It reforms as bubbles near the heat source, which break free when they reach sufficient size and buoyancy. They rise quickly to the top. Some bubblers use "bumpers", either glass beads or gravel, to aid in bubble production; some use no bumpers at all. Sometimes, as with boilers, the glass is stretched or shaped to provide interest in the path of the rising bubbles. 

 

"Lava bubblers" contain volatile liquid and a brightly-colored oil. The oil acts as the bumpers, and the vapor bubbles eventually break free of the oil. They rise quickly, carrying a thin film of oil, then pop at the top, and the remaining droplets of oil float back down and interact with the rising bubbles; some cover the top part with foil, so the viewer sees only big, clear bubbles going up and little colored drops coming down. Some add indents in the glass to bounce the bubbles around. An additional variety of lava bubbler has glass beads in the oil, which aid in bubble production and make for more, smaller bubbles, which send tendrils of oil flowing up into the liquid. One must be careful with the lava bubblers - when they are switched on and finally reach operating temperature, the first bubble production has been known to be violent enough to 'bounce' the entire lamp and cause it to tip over!

 

"Lava fountains" combine the action of a lava bubbler with that of a fountain. Oil is forced up a pipe and out of jets or nozzles into the clear liquid; the vapor bubbles go up, and the oil floats down.

 

"Hand boilers" are boilers or fountains operated by the warmth of the user's hand. Countless variants were made in Taiwan and Japan, but I have included only French models here.

 

The bubblers by Telektron have four tubes full of the volatile liquid resting in an illuminated glass base. Bubbles form and rise in the tubes, like Christmas bubble lights or Wurlitzer jukebox bubble tubes. These lamps were made in Italy.

 

I have also included two French liquid hourglasses, undoubtedly made by firms making boilers.

 

Known makers include "VD", "TC" (a lamp has been seen with both of these on it), "M.U.C. Paris", individials like F. Vaudan of Paris and S. Vera of Cleremont-Ferrand, and Telektron from Italy. More info is wanted/needed!

 

If anyone has questions, I'll do my best to answer them. There are most certainly other lamps out there, and more will be added as I or others spot them. If you own or have a photo or auction link of a lamp(s) NOT shown here, please let me know. I can't do this alone! And in case anyone is wondering, I do not own all or most of these; I have no. 1, top left. The illustration began in 2004 with that one and five other boilers, then grew to nine. Following that in 2006 was the first detailed list, which had 25 boilers, including handboilers but not color variants, which were described but not shown (i.e. "This model also comes in orange"). I eventually added pictured color variants because there are subtle color differences; there are also small shape differences between lamps of the same basic form and I've done my best to show these. The list now contains 133 lamps, plus 19 handboilers and the 2 hourglasses, with all known colors and style variants pictured and explained. Image was drawn in Windows Paint - make sure to look at the full-size version.

 

Here's the image link:

https://oozinggoo.ning.com/photo/boiler-list-updated-582011?context...

[Jonas Clark-Elliott]

I should add credits. Among others, Craig French and Astro have been great aids; Astro is sometimes able to get further photos from a seller! I don't speak a lick of French. A non-OGer called Blitzenstar sent me a few hundred photos of his extensive collection of non-French items using the boiling technique, from laboratory demonstration apparatus to "drinking birds" and Taiwanese hand boilers, to all sorts of glass novelties and the amazing bubble tube letter signs made in the US in the 1940s. Thanks to everyone who assists. And a BIG shout-out to Karoll, wherever you are... Karoll was a French collector of boilers and French glitter lamps who opened my eyes to both in the first place; he sent me a photo of no. 13 boiler (the stretched column) in the pale straw color, described it and asked, "Have you ever seen one of these?," then sent me a shot of his own boilers, and the rest is history!

[wizard of ooze]

I hope to own a least a couple examples of these, especially a 'lava bubbler'. Would love to find one with purple fluid.

[Erin]

I would love to own one as well, but between the shipping and fragility of the items, I'm guessing this will be a hard thing to do!

[Jonas Clark-Elliott]

I have seen five or six in the USA bought and shipped by collectors, and one that made it here with an antique dealer who knew nothing about them. eBay France is the place to hunt!