A safety lamp is any of several types of lamp that provides illumination in places such as coal mines where the air may carry coal dust or a build-up of inflammable gases, which may explode if ignited, possibly by an electric spark. Until the development of effective electric lamps in the early 1900s, miners used flame lamps to provide illumination. Open flame lamps could ignite flammable gases which collected in mines, causing explosions; safety lamps were developed to enclose the flame to prevent it from igniting the explosive gases. Flame safety lamps have been replaced for lighting in mining with sealed explosion-proof electric lights, but continue to be used to detect gases.
Spedding mill at the German mining museum, Bochum, Northrhine-Westfalia, Germany
Early form of Stephenson lamp shown with a Davy lamp on the left
Mueseler lamp (on the left) and a derivative of the Geordie
Marsaut lamp (on the right) showing a triple mesh variant
A light fixture, light fitting, or luminaire is an electrical lighting device containing one or more light sources, such as lamps, and all the accessory components required for its operation to provide illumination to the environment. All light fixtures have a fixture body and one or more lamps. The lamps may be in sockets for easy replacement—or, in the case of some LED fixtures, hard-wired in place.
Lamp and lampshade made of Tiffany glass; c. 1890–1900; Budapest Museum of Applied Arts (Budapest, Hungary)
Lamp; 1902–1918; lead and glass; 67.9 x 52.1 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City)
"Daffodil" lamp; 1904–1924; leaded opalescent glass and gilt bronze; height: 67.9 cm, diameter of shape: 51.4 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art
Chandeliers in the Bibliothèque Mazarine (Paris)