Pampering and Protecting your Fenton
by John Gager (Copyright © 2000 - Fenton Fanatics)
Thanks to Sharon Bragg & Susan Aufderhaar

Recently I received a letter from Sharon relating the story about a collector who had innocently placed a decorative candle beneath her reverse painted lamp. Most of us wouldn't think of it because the lamp shade is usually a good distance from the candle, and besides, with all the heat required to make the lamp, surely it could take a little heat from a candle. As the collector soon found out, with her shattered globe laying in pieces, that it doesn't take much temperature variation to make an expensive piece of glass virtually worthless.

Sharon contacted Anita at Fenton's Quality Control and learned some interesting facts about glass, tempering, and why the globe broke so easily. Sharon, and your author, didn't understand why the glass that was subjected to such extreme temperatures in the original production and annealing lehrs couldn't take a candle flame. Anita then explained to Sharon that after the trip through the original lehr which takes stress points out, then the handpainting and the trip through the lehr in the decorating department which also removes further stresses, that the glass will no longer take extreme heat. To make matters worse, the Brass Finial at the top of the shade would act as a heat conductor amplifying and distributing the heat even more. Anita explained that Fenton packs a notice with all of their lamps to use no more than 40 watt bulbs. She also mentioned that if you were to light a candle and hold it under any Fenton for a prolonged period of time (the collector's candles burnt for over an hour while they waited through a storm) that any piece of decorative glass which is non-tempered would suffer damage. Example of tempered glass would be Pyrex, Fire King, and some glass table tops.

Anita also mentioned that although Fairy Lamps and Candle Bowls are not tempered, the opening at the top provides an escape for the heat unlike the lamp shade. Although she did warn not to place a burning Fairy Lamp near a entry way or foyer. The cold blast of air from the outside can easily shatter the hot lamp.

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