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Market Watch, 31 October 2026: a gas tester, two Wigan lamps and an ARP blue glass

31 October 2026by Old FlamesMarket Watch
Recreated gas-testing flame lamp
Representative recreation of a gas-testing lamp. Recreation based on “Pieler safety lamp” by Julo, public domain, and “Davyho lampa” by Ikcur, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Shared under the same licence.

Five finds from the first Market Watch: what they are, where they were and what they asked.

How Market Watch works. We quote the facts of a listing (maker, model, asking price, platform, item number and date seen) and credit the platform. We don’t copy sellers’ or auction photos. Where we show a picture, it’s a recreation of the same type of lamp, made from a public-domain or free-licence photo and labelled with its source. We never print private sellers’ names. Prices were checked on the date shown and may have changed. Search the item number on the platform to find the listing while it lasts.
Type illustration: gas-testing lamp
Type illustration, not the listed item. Representative recreation of a gas-testing lamp. Recreation based on “Pieler safety lamp” by Julo, public domain, and “Davyho lampa” by Ikcur, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Shared under the same licence.

Ashworth’s Patent Hepplewhite-Gray (A-H-G) gas-testing lamp, about 1900

US$1,000 including postage (about A$1,520)
Where
Fleaglass (Canada), dealer listing
Location
Stratford, Ontario
Seen
31 Oct 2026

Gas-testing lamps show firedamp as a pale “cap” above a lowered flame. The A-H-G, made by John Davis & Son of Derby, was a specialist officials’ lamp. This one is No. 5 and comes with its key, and complete examples with keys are scarce.

Type illustration: flame safety lamp
Type illustration, not the listed item. Representative recreation of a Clanny-type flame safety lamp. Recreation based on “Clanny lamp”, National Museum Wales, CC BY-SA 3.0, and “Davyho lampa” by Ikcur, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Shared under the same licence.

Richard Johnson, Clapham & Morris miner’s lamp

A$200
Where
Gumtree Australia, item 1320837193
Location
South Tamworth, NSW
Seen
31 Oct 2026

An Australian find. The Powerhouse Museum’s lamps from Maitland collieries include Richard Johnson, Clapham & Morris lamps alongside Mills, Davis and Protector. Lamps on NSW coalfields were imported; the Australian part is usually the colliery marking.

Type illustration: flame safety lamp
Type illustration, not the listed item. Representative recreation of a Clanny-type flame safety lamp. Recreation based on “Clanny lamp”, National Museum Wales, CC BY-SA 3.0, and “Davyho lampa” by Ikcur, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Shared under the same licence.

Abbot, Roby & Naylor (Wigan) bi-fold burner lamp, ex Maurice Dawson collection

£98.75, buy it now (about A$195)
Where
eBay UK, item 398168684384
Location
Westbury, Wiltshire
Seen
31 Oct 2026

A Wigan-made lamp with a provenance: it comes from the Maurice Dawson collection. Bi-fold burners have two wick tubes; check the burner is complete before you buy.

Type illustration: Hailwood & Ackroyd coloured-glass lamps (Bosuns Mate’s collection)
Type illustration, not the listed item.

Hailwood & Ackroyd Type 01 lamp with ARP blue glass

Price on the listing
Where
eBay UK, item 820282936491
Location
UK
Seen
31 Oct 2026

When pits went over to electric cap lamps, surplus hired-out Type 01 lamps were converted in the Second World War with blue (and some red) glass for Air Raid Precautions and for marking gas leaks. Home Office tests found a dim blue light couldn’t be seen from 2,000 feet. Read Bosuns Mate’s post on these lamps.

Type illustration: frog lamp
Type illustration, not the listed item. Representative recreation of an 18th-century frog lamp. Recreation based on “Froschlampe 18. Jahrhundert (3)” by 1971markus, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Shared under the same licence.

Wilhelm Seippel “Glückauf” frog lamp, cast iron

Price by offer
Where
Marktplaats.nl, item m2457950709
Location
Netherlands
Seen
31 Oct 2026

The seller dates it to about 1880–1910. Frog lamps are open oil lamps and among the most faked lamps of all, so read our guide to fakes before you make an offer.

Australian dollar amounts are approximate, at the rate on the day seen. Every price here also goes into the Old Flames price guide. Seen something we should look at? Post it in the Old Flames Facebook group.

Hailwood & AckroydJ.H. NaylorJohn Davis & SonRichard Johnson, Clapham & MorrisWilhelm SeippelAustraliaCanadaNetherlandsUKFor salePrices

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“A safety lamp only works if it’s used.”