This humble light globe is an excellent example of a lost art, the repair of broken filaments. It also represents an old attitude that is coming back into vogue in wealthy countries as people seek to live more sustainably: whenever possible, things should be repaired and re-used rather than discarded. Repair is often preferable to recycling because it minimises loss of embedded energy and skill as well as loss of material.

Not many people bother to repair filament light globes today, because such globes are cheap, the process is slow and requires dexterity, and inefficient incandescent lamps have been superseded by more efficient types that do not have filaments. Repair was certainly easier for early light globes than for later ones, which are evacuated at the base rather than through an exposed vacuum tip. The exposed tip enabled this globe to be re-evacuated after cutting the glass envelope, repairing the filament, and welding the glass parts together. Evacuation removes oxygen, which would react with the hot filament and reduce lamp life; in metal filament lamps, air was evacuated and then replaced with an inert gas such as argon.

Debbie Rudder, Curator, 2011

The light globe was made by Philips in Holland between 1910 and 1920

The light globe was restored by the Electric Lamp Repairing Company in the inner Sydney suburb of Redfern around 1918.

In 1958 or 1959 it was recovered from a Potts Point house by lamp collector Fin Stewart and kept by him until it was offered to the Museum.

Mr Stewart thoroughly researched the story of the repair company, and his research file is part of the acquisition.

Light globe and related information file, 240V, 25W, glass / metal / paper, made by Philips, Holland, filament replaced by Electric Lamp Repairing Company, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 1910-1920

This tungsten filament light globe has a bayonet cap base and a vacuum tip at the top. A line can be seen in the glass where it was cut (so that the filament could be replaced) and then welded before the lamp was re-exhausted via the tip.

Made: 1910 - 1920

Stamped on the glass: 'Repaired by the ELR Co Sydney'.

2012/17/1

1910 - 1920