Re: Re: Dublin Street Lighting
RE: THE SILVER REPRODUCTION LAMPS
@Phil wrote:
To replace [the Art Deco] lamps with reproduction ‘heritage’ lamps displays a very warped sense of history
@Graham Hickey wrote:
On one level it is warped indeed, but I think it is important to note that these silver lampposts are much more than just heritage pieces of furniture: they are as much a part of Dublin as red telephone boxes are to London. And I presume that in some areas of that city brand new boxes have also been installed over the years in places where needed not because they’re olde worlde, but because they embody the city in a manner like nothing else.
Likewise in Dublin, in fairness to the City Council, the erection of these lampposts in appropriate places is generally executed in this spirit rather than in that of a yearning for the days of yore as is generally the case with pastiche concoctions.
I hope it is ok to cross-quote into this thread (for fear of quoting out-of-context, the original posts are here: https://archiseek.com/content/showthread.php?p=33946#post33946 ). Since they make up such a heavy proportion of the city centre’s lamp stock, I think it’s probably best to talk about the silver repros in a dedicated Lamp Standards thread.
There are two basic types of repro lamp in use in the city. The first, and most heavily used, is quite a flimsy and, in my opinion, poorly-detailed historic-style lamp. It is found on: Winetavern Street, the Quays (excluding 6 beautiful original shamrocks outside the Four Courts), Stoney Batter, North King Street (part of), Parnell Street (part of), Summerhill, Capel Street (north end), Abbey Street Lower, Mayor Street (most of) & Commons Street in the Docklands, Fleet Street (painted blue), Ship Street (part of, painted black) Sth. Gt. George’s Street, Aungier Street, Wexford Street, Camden Street, Heytesbury Street, New Street, Dean Street, Clanbrassil Street, Harcourt Street, Ely Place and Herbert Street (the last three streets have some originals as well).
I can’t agree about the validity of these, Graham. I think there is something sick about smothering so many important city centre streets with what is a fairly cheap and nasty piece of false history.
Then there is the other, more substantial and less-used type, which is a fairly accurate replica of probably the most common genuine historic Dublin lamp standard (apparently dating to 1900-30 and found extensively throughout the North and South Georgian cores). It has a stout, deeply moulded base & ornate head. They are quite an impressive replica and are sometimes hard to tell from the originals, but the giveaway is the column]http://img226.echo.cx/img226/7108/reproductraditlamps1a4dr.jpg[/IMG]
Silver repros on the Quays
