Whale Oil Lamp c. 1936

Matthew Mangiacotti made this drawing of a whale oil lamp sometime in the 20th century with graphite on paper. The image is rendered tonally with very subtle gradations to make it look dimensional. I wonder, was Mangiacotti an engineer? Was he an inventor? Maybe he just liked to draw. It looks like a study for something, a design maybe. See how there is a small version of the lamp tucked in the corner with the dimensions noted. I like the idea of making the lamp, of getting your hands dirty, trying to give shape and form to this functional object, something to light the darkness. I like imagining Mangiacotti's hand moving across the paper, the soft scrape of the graphite, the way the form emerges from the page. You know, art is just one big conversation through time. We’re all just riffing off each other, taking notes, trying things out, and keeping the thing alive.