A source of
light consisting of a
resevoir, a
wick and a piece of glass surrounding the flame(globe).
The wick soaks
oil up from the resavoir and burns. It's like a big glass candle. This is how people used to light their homes.
The proper way to put out an oil lamp is NOT to lift the glass and blow out the
flame. I learned this the
hard way. Unfortunately I already had it in my hand way up in the air before I realised it was hot. REALLY HOT. This presented a dilemma, tough it out and put it down gently, or drop it and have
shards of hot glass all over the floor.