Creepy Little Gnome Ceramic - is it a oil lamp?

Hi,
I've never seen something like this before. Glass tube with a wick - is this an oil lamp or some type of candle?
any information appreciated
thanks for looking

 

Maybe one of those scent diffusers?

 

I was ready to write that I thought it was more likely to be a little oil lamp. Realizing there is no safe way to advance the wick while lit is making me doubt that. Still, you would think a diffuser could have been made without a conspicuous nozzle like that? Both oil lamps & gnomes were big in the 70s. No help at all, am I?

 

I wondered about that but I don't think he is.

Of course you are of help bronwen! I think this is a hobbyist ceramic piece, maybe from the 1970s? I originally thought a candle, like the Un-Candles from the 1970s - you put water and then some cooking oil in the glass, add the wick and it burns away.

 

The glass tube and wick look sort of like this one (albeit with a closed end):


Perhaps fiberglass, like these, and for lamp oil?

from:
https://www.amazon.com/Glass-Wick-Holder-Insert-Making-Your/dp/B000B8L7US

 

Does the wick come out of the top?

If no, I don't see how it could be a wick for perfumed oil.

 

Thanks SBSVC and cluttered.
Yes, the wick comes out the top - looks like this is for oil candles
http://www.oilcandlesupplies.com/glass-wick-holders.html

 

here is the one in mine -

 

i see no reason for this to be lit...

 

I guess you don't have to light it but you can if you so desire (and have the oil in the tube)

 

Gnome scent???
NO thank you!