Flat wick / flat flame burners.

James Hinks of Birmingham (GB) introduced in 1865 the Duplex-burner with two flat wicks parallel to each other. Some improvements were soon added: a gallery-lifter for easy lighting, and snuffers as extinguishers; also automatic extinguisher versions for accidental tilting. The most appropriate Duplex-chimney is an oval flattened bulge chimney.

For the use in lanterns, many chimneyless burners were developed, like this Barton-burner.

Folded flat wick burners.

Wild & Wessel of Berlin introduced in 1865 the idea of a flat wick folded to a round flame, later called the Kosmos-burner.  The appropriate chimney is a constricted one, and stretches the flame upwards. A tapered version of the chimney is called "Reform" or "improved Kosmos".

Round flame burners with a flame-spreader.

Round-flame burners were also made in different versions with a small disk located above the wick. This disk can be borne by a rod or a meshed tube. According to the size of the disk, the chimney can be shouldered, straight or bulged. The Sonnenbrenner by Ditmar in Vienna uses a tubular wick fed by a permanent transport wick. The half frosted chimney is very rare, as frosted chimneys were almost never made for kerosene-lighting.

This Sebastianbrenner by  Schwintzer & Gräff in Berlin includes a middle-sized flame-spreader borne by a meshed tube, also called a "thimble". The chimney is straight (gas-chimney).

The Matador-burner is the most popular burner with flame-spreader in continental Europe. It was developed by Ehrich & Graetz of Berlin toward 1895. The meshed tube regulates the central air draft. Caution:: Modern burners are made and offered under the name "Matador", but don't have the authentic design of the original matador-burner, not the same wick size or texture.

The Central-Vulkan or Globe-Vulcan burner made by Wild & Wessel of Berlin is equipped with a large flame-spreader sitting high on a rod. The chimney has both a constriction for a thorough air/fuel mixture, and a bulge to spread  comfortably the flame.

The Mitrailleuse-burner bye Schwintzer & Gräff of Berlin uses several rope-wicks (generally 12) to form a tubular flame.

Carl Holy of Berlin developed many different burners. The flame spreader is borne by a rod in some models, by a meshed tube in others. The chimney shape is differs according to the burner type and disk size. Some burners made by Holy were sold in Great Britain under the name Wizard.

Burners for miniature lamps.

Here are shown several burners in use in miniature lamps or night-lights. From left to right: Sparbrenner, Perkeo, Starburner (Sternbrenner), a small Perkeo and a burner for dollhouses.

This small version of the Astra-Soleil lamp looks like a gasoline-lamp, but was made for kerosene. The chimney is composite, partly metal to prevent breakage.

Center-draft burners and a fan lamp.

Center-draft lamp with a complicated flame- spreader by Louis Sepulchre in Herstal near Liege (Belgium).

Important notice about kerosene-burners and lamps

The main difference between center-draft lamps and side-draft burners is the fact that CD-lamps only accept their own burner which perfectly fits around the central air tube, where side-draft burners (i.e. Kosmos, Matador, Odin, flat-flame etc. etc.) have a widely standardized fount-thread and can be used on any fount having a suitable collar. This feature was one of the main improvements of the kerosene-era.

Therefore, it is not correct to speak about "Kosmos-lamps", because any lamp can use any side-draft burner with a suitable thread!

Here again, when identifying a lamp's origin, the general rule is to identify the burner's manufacturer and the lamp's maker separately, as they could be totally different, often even from different countries. French lamps equipped with German or Austrian burners are a common example.

Wick-fed incandescent burners.

Once the gas mantle was invented for gas lighting, burners for other fuels were developed on the same principle. Kerosene lamps were made with better air inlets and higher chimneys to obtain a blue flame and make the mantle glow. Appropriate chimneys are straight or slightly shouldered. We show here two versions of the Kronos-burner by Hugo Schneider of Leipzig (Germany).

The Aladdin-lamp was developed in the USA from 1909 on, and can still be found in Europe.

Kerosene-vapor burners.

Far left: Standard-Light, a rare gravity-fed kerosene vapor-lamp with an upright Welsbach burner.
 

Left: a pressure kerosene pendant by
Martin Brandt & C°, Berlin.

Pressure lanterns for kerosene were very popular throughout the world. Ehrich & Graetz developed the Petromax still available today. We show here a Geniol, one of many similar models.