This is a very rare and seldom seen brass C. T. Ham Fire Dept. lantern marked for the fire apparatus company Rhode Island Coupling Co. Providence, Rhode Island (R.I.C.
Co., PROV. R.I.). See the second picture that shows a letterhead from the company. Patent dates on the lantern itself are Oct 9, 1888 and Sept 16, 1890. The Lantern is strong and tight with no loose joints. Its condition is very good considering the hard fire department use it must have gotten. There is uneven and loss of plating as can happen with these old brass lanterns, with some parts like the bottom of the fount and the lower wire guard having more plating than some other parts. There are no bumps or dings. It\'s straight and strong. The water shield and the lower wire guard slip into place snugly on the tabs at the side of the tubes and are not loose. The globe is a nice early red flashed hot blast tubular one from the right time period, early to middle 1890\'s, with no problems other than the usual small flakes at the top and bottom. All and all a very nice rare fire lantern that could be left as is, natural as found, in its lightly cleaned state or made to shine if the new owner wanted to polish and or re-plate it.Thanks for looking, any questions please ask.

On Jul-30-16 at 12:14:51 PDT, seller added the following information:

Questions have been asked about Stress cracks in this lantern. There are No stress cracks in this lantern. I know that many old brass Ham\'s can get stress cracks and dry loose joints over time. There are none of those with this lantern it is tight and strong with no cracks. Thanks to you all who have asked the question.