Oozing Goo - The Lava Lamp Syndicate

Updated boiler list! Rare French blown-glass "boiler" lamps of all kinds!

The updated boiler list has been posted! Anyone who's into these bizarre French lamps, have a look. And if you have a photo of a model or variation of a model (different color, slightly different shape) that isn't shown in the list, please send it to me or post it here on OG so I can add it to the list! I'm 100% certain that this is by no means all the styles and colors made; every time I get three or four new photos, I add them to the list.

Contact me at jcefoundit@gmail.com if you have lamps to add!

Quick FAQ:
What are these? Where and when were they made?
--"Boilers" were made in the early 1970s in France. They're made mostly or, in many cases, entirely out of hand-blown glass, many carrying stickers reading "fait main" (hand made). A very few sit in metal bases. The silvery cylinders on many of them are bands of adhesive foil. Boilers in general present a liquid motion effect(s) that are different from lava lamps.

What do they do?
--I've assigned them categories.
Boilers - the basic variety - contain a volatile liquid with a low evaporation point, probably ethyl alcohol or methylene chloride. A light bulb illuminates and provides heat. As the liquid in the base becomes warm, vapor is produced, and the pressure of the growing vapor cloud forces the liquid up a glass pipe, usually formed into a decorative shape. When the liquid level in the base gets low enough, vapor flows up the pipe in bubbles, making the liquid in the upper globe appear to boil violently. The liquid flows back to the base and the process repeats. Some models fill up from the bottom, while others start mostly full.
Bubblers do exactly that: bubble. They warm up until vapor forms in the top, and eventually the pressure causes vapor to suffuse into the liquid. Bubbles of vapor collect near the heat source and rise to the top. Some, but not all, have a heap of glass beads in the bottom, which give the bubbles something to cling to as they form.
Fountains don't just fill, boil, empty and repeat. They bubble up more frequently, and the riser pipe ends in a set of jets or nozzles which squirt fountains of liquid into an upper pool. Small holes around the riser pipe let liquid from the pool flow back into the base. A few rare fountains have a double arrangement, where every few sprays in a lower vessel build up pressure to operate a second fountain in an upper vessel. A return pipe connects back to the base.
Glitterboilers simply encase a basic boiler or bubbler in an outer glass envelope that functions as a glitter lamp.
Lavaboilers function, basically, as a bubbler, however there are two liquids: clear above, and a thick, colored oil below. The vapor bubbles form in the oil and then rise, coated in a thin layer of oil. When they reach the top, the bubble pops and the droplets of oil float back down. Most of these hide this transformation with a foil band, so the viewer only sees large, clear bubbles zooming upward as little colored drops float down. These sometimes collide, and some lavaboilers add indentations in the glass tube to add to the action. Another category of lavaboiler adds beads, which break up the rising bubbles and cause sprays of oil to rise, something like a very alien lava lamp.
Lava geysers function, basically, as a lavaboiler, but concentrate the rising vapor with a nozzle or jet, forcing squirts of oil into the liquid.
Handboilers, which were also made later in Taiwan and sold as "love meters", are a basic boiler without a light. Your hand is the heat source. Some have multiple chambers. A few stand on glass pedestals.
I've also included two liquid hourglasses, made in France in the 1970s, probably by people who made boilers.

Where do you see these?
--eBay France, mostly. Look for "lampe bulles" (bubbles lamp) or "lampe ebullition" (boiling lamp).

Do you own all of these?
--No. I wish I owned more of them, they're uncommon in France but I've only ever seen one reach the US through a shop. I own no. 1, far top left of the boiler list. It is approximately 30" tall. I found it in a local antique shop, the owners of which got it from an estate in the UK of a man who sold laboratory glassware. It had been in his office.

How were the list's illustrations done? How complete is the list?
I drew the list in Windows Paint. I started in 2005 with six boilers, then up to 9, and the first "list" was in 2006 with 25 items. This first list is in my Photos. The current list has 132 items, including color variants, as well as a number of replicas of stickers found on boilers and notes on which ones had them, if known. I add boilers as I spot them, so if there's one I've missed, send me the photo and I'll draw it in!

Feel free to ask questions about these; I'll answer them if I can. I'm no expert, but I can give it the ol' college try.

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