1995 was the beginning of a now fifteen year experiment with the question, what should an
       oil lamp look like, or how should it function in 1995 and beyond the year 2020.  
       The oil lamp was  thought of as a basic utility and often produced in polished brass or silver
       as a work of art at that time.   It is this utility that has intrigued this exploration of a new oil
       lamp. The main problem with the traditional oil lamp is the size of their wicks.  Normally
       1/2" to 3/4" flat wick and made of cotton.   This size will absorb more oil than needed,
       especially at a time when the cost of oil is high and  a limited resource.  Fiberglass wicks
       will last longer and are more efficient wicking fuel than a cotton wick  Starting with
       reducing  the size of the wick and removing the reservoir from being directly under the wick
       was the start of artlamp.  Moving the fuel reservoir from directly under the flame, allowed
       more control of the fuel being burned. 
       
       Common amongst traditional oil lamps is their oil reservoir is directly under the flame.  This
       is not a necessity but an easy way to build the oil lamp and we became use to seeing the 
       oil lamp in that configuration.  

       Artlamp started with the idea that the reservoir did not have to be directly under the flame,
       i.e. using  the principle that water (oil) seeks its own level.  Experiments began with
       Artlamp's first Contemporary Oil Lamp the U12.
     
     The purpose of this lamp was to test the wicking capability
       of a wick or the capillary attraction of the wick with a remote reservoir.  Fiberglass wicks
       where found to be the best for use with ultra pure lamp oil. The  U12  generated 
       the idea for several other Artlamp contemporary oil lamps using oil resistant clear flexible
       tubing, including;  
     Schneider's Contemporary Oil Lamp.

     The design criteria for the Schneider Lamp was to create a tall sculptural contemporary oil
       lamp.  Freedom of design was important as seen in the loop of the clear flexible tubing,
       the use of the diagonal in its framework and the remote fuel reservoir.
 
       Having a better understanding  of the absorption of a wick, started a new generation of
      energy efficient contemporary oil lamps such as:   Artlamp's Pyramid.
      For more technical information and development of the Pyramid oil lamp go to
      The Pyramid.