what is this hoop at the top for?
Yes, it's a lamp. But what on earth is this center hoop thing for? Is something supposed to hang here?
My wife says it was purely for decoration but... just shoving a hoop above the lights? Why not a bird or something?
Maybe it is a holdover from when that style of light used candles. The ring was used to carry it around?
I was thinking it was a holdover for holding the tools that go with oil lamps, but you are right, it is for carrying the lamp around, the tools go further down:
OK, I was convinced this was a cop out answer. But the pic is literally the gas version of the exact same thing.
It would also be used to hang the lamp on a hook.
Try hanging it from a ceiling hook?
Oh yeah, I seem to vaguely remember seeing hooks next to doorways in some period-piece movie. Probably had a light source hanging where we now put light switches?!
this
How do you know it's not an emergency handle to grab on to in case gravity inverts?
Duh, that's what grass is for...
Touch grass. Your life may depend on it.
Newton’s revenge
Yeah, I guess it keeps you far enough away from the light/heat source to avoid burns. But in this day and age of LEDs, it's rather vestigial. Maybe you can make a game out of flicking rubber bands through the hoop?
Yeah, from the pics in other posts I'm wondering if this is just a very old lamp. Following the blueprint of its gas predecessor without any thought of what was no longer necessary...
Like a beta of an electric lamp? Before they realized the downsides of a wired connection compared to the "wireless" gas lamp predecessors.
Yup, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that this one was converted from oil to electric.
and now we convert them back to oil
You could probably mount it by hanging it from a chain. We have a light fixture with a similar looking hoop.
You can hang the light, also I bet you could unscrew the base and replace with a cap