It's 7" across the Y-burners, almost 12" tall; the cast-iron base is 4 1/4" diameter. One of the burner sleeves is marked: Victor Crescent 3/4 FT., the other: Colonial 3/4. Victor has a screen (pic 6), Colonial has none. The Y-portion is a ceramic, which a hard steel point will not scratch. I'll guess it was fueled by Coal Gas, or perhaps Natural Gas. Air is supplied to each of the 4 flame holes by 2 smaller angled orifices that meet just behind them. The Eastlake motif on the barbed inlet valve tee suggests the age of the tool...but I'm not familiar enough with Eastlake to say more than mid to late 19th C, as a guess. What do y'all say about this thing? Thanks for lookin'!
I think it may be a lamp rather than a torch of any sort. Similar Y shaped burner tips appear to have been used in early automobile headlamps - https://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/411944/477620.html?1411732659
Wow! I am wholly surprised, Books! So the gas is Acetylene, from Carbide! For this thing of mine to be a lamp, somehow a shade, or pair of them, must needs...an' I see no attachment feature for such. Also, the utilitarian design seems to belong more on a workbench than in a domestic setting. I admit to being too young to have had exposure to such lighting appliances, so all is conjecture. Thanks!
Based on this example of a wall sconce (found through pinterest, with no viable link or additional information), it may have just been open flames - https://www.pinterest.com/pin/412853490834419467/ A bit better than an open candle, but the Victorians may have figured out pretty quickly that a table lamp with open flames and a constant fuel supply was not the best idea. Not to mention the hazards of the gas line somehow getting to the lamp in the first place. It may explain why I am having trouble finding any comparative examples.
Open flame acetalyne...not wise. I bet it would still work , not that anyone in their right minds would hook it up.
Coal gas was the more common "town gas" (manufactured gas distributed from a central plant) at this period.
You're right about that...but an open flame from a candle was used for decades to illuminate homes, an' some workplaces. So it makes sense to me that, as you have found, open flames fueled by one gas or another, without benefit of any chimney or shade, were perfectly acceptable. They were simple times, an' the safety aspect took time to impress itself on the majority of users: As in...Oh, boy, Howdy!
It's fun to read about things that were completely unknown to me earlier. Thanks for posting this, @wlwhittier !