To a great extent, lighting and lighting fixtures are indicators that their users belong to a particular social group. In the 15th and 16th centuries, as throughout the Middle Ages, torches and pine chips were heavily used as portable sources of illumination. Vessels included lamps of earthenware, glass, or metal. The fuel burned was primarily oil (e.g. linseed oil, poppy-seed oil) or, especially in northern Europe, whale oil; such lamps were used in ordinary households into the 19th century. Ot…
Lighting(780 words)
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Jaritz, Gerhard, “Lighting”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 22 March 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_SIM_017469>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20190801
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