Wall blaker

Brass wall blaker in the Groß Bünzow church

Brass wall blaker in the town church of St. Jakob and St. Dionysius (Gadebusch)

Wall blakers (also obsolete Blacker ) are holders for candles or oil lamps on the walls of interiors. A special feature is the polished wall plate (usually made of brass) to reflect the light into the room and at the same time provide fire protection for the wall behind.

history

Most blakers are made of brass , sometimes copper, rarely silver, later also glass and mirrors, later even wood and faience . The blaker has been detectable since the 16th century. Presumably it spread from the production facilities of the Dinander (brass utensils) on the Meuse . The main focus of its distribution is northern Germany. In the 17th century it was found as a temporary fashion in French castles. In the 18th century it gradually disappears - first from the halls of the aristocracy, then the town houses and in the 19th century it is also superseded in the farmhouse parlors by petroleum lights and electricity, only to make a new career a little later as a popular and faked antique.

etymology

The origin of the word "Wandblaker" was according to the German dictionary of the Brothers Grimm after the French. plaque f. 'plate, sconce' formed , and the length of the a (based) is perhaps based on “blaken” (northern German): soot, smoking. Here also the secondary meaning: "reflecting metal plate behind a wall sconce". Likewise, the use of Blaker for portable chandeliers is also only historical.

literature

Hans Wentzel: Blaker . In: Real Lexicon on German Art History . Volume 2., 1941, Col. 828-832

Web links

To the history of the blaker. Metalworking Lexicon
Blaker. museum-digital: westfalen

Individual evidence

↑ Blacker . In: Kruenitz
↑ In Pierer's Universal Lexikon from 1860 it is said that behind the wall blaker "as a reverbere" ( reflector ) "a mirror or a shield of bare metal is attached". Candlesticks . In: Universal Lexicon of the Present and Past . 4., reworked. and greatly increased edition, Volume 10: Lack Farbe – Matelen , Eigenverlag, Altenburg 1860, p. 314 . Réverbère . In: Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon . 6th edition. Volume 16, Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig / Vienna 1908, p. 849 .
↑ Kerosene lamps that were provided with reflectors that were not only used for hanging on the wall are usually not referred to as blakers.
↑ Blaker. In: Jacob Grimm , Wilhelm Grimm (Hrsg.): German dictionary . tape 2 : Beer murderer – D - (II). S. Hirzel, Leipzig 1860 ( woerterbuchnetz.de ). Wall blaker . In: Jacob Grimm , Wilhelm Grimm (Hrsg.): German dictionary . tape 27 : W – way [twittering] -zwiesel - (XIII). S. Hirzel, Leipzig 1922 ( woerterbuchnetz.de ).
↑ In Christmas Morning by Theodor Fontane there is a portable blaker: "... and the old servant ... came in, a blaker in his hand."

[1] Blacker . In: Kruenitz

[2] In Pierer's Universal Lexikon from 1860 it is said that behind the wall blaker "as a reverbere" ( reflector ) "a mirror or a shield of bare metal is attached". Candlesticks . In: Universal Lexicon of the Present and Past . 4., reworked. and greatly increased edition, Volume 10: Lack Farbe – Matelen , Eigenverlag, Altenburg 1860, p. 314 . Réverbère . In: Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon . 6th edition. Volume 16, Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig / Vienna 1908, p. 849 .

[3] Kerosene lamps that were provided with reflectors that were not only used for hanging on the wall are usually not referred to as blakers.

[4] Blaker. In: Jacob Grimm , Wilhelm Grimm (Hrsg.): German dictionary . tape 2 : Beer murderer – D - (II). S. Hirzel, Leipzig 1860 ( woerterbuchnetz.de ). Wall blaker . In: Jacob Grimm , Wilhelm Grimm (Hrsg.): German dictionary . tape 27 : W – way [twittering] -zwiesel - (XIII). S. Hirzel, Leipzig 1922 ( woerterbuchnetz.de ).

[5] In Christmas Morning by Theodor Fontane there is a portable blaker: "... and the old servant ... came in, a blaker in his hand."