Matched pair of harbor channel marker beacon lights — red to port, green to starboard — in brass and copper with original painted ironwork, retaining the international color convention that has governed safe navigation into harbors and channels for over a century. Manufactured circa 1890–1905, at the height of the great age of harbor engineering, these beacons formed a working installation, signaling left and right to vessels entering a harbor or channel. Their survival as a matched pair in original condition is exceptional.
Each beacon is constructed with a hand-raised copper conical chimney and ventilating collar above a heavy cast brass lamp housing, the cylindrical body glazed with Fresnel panels in original red and green, respectively, retained by diagonal brass straps and original red-painted iron banding. The lower body tapers in a barrel shape with heavy brass-stave construction and a cast base with an integral fuel fitting. The original kerosene burner assemblies are preserved intact. The beacons have been sympathetically electrified for display while retaining full original integrity.
The red and green channel marker convention — port to left, starboard to right — was codified in international maritime law in the nineteenth century and remains the global standard. Beacons of this pattern were produced for harbor authorities and port commissions across Europe and their colonial networks, and installed at quay heads, breakwater terminations, and channel entrances to guide commercial and naval shipping in all visibility conditions. A matched working pair in this state of preservation, retaining original paint, glazing, and burner mechanisms, is an exceptional survivor.
Electrified. Original kerosene burner mechanisms preserved. Original paint throughout.
Price on application.
Matched pair of harbor channel marker beacon lights — red to port, green to starboard — in brass and copper with original painted ironwork, retaining the international color convention that has governed safe navigation into harbors and channels for over a century. Manufactured circa 1890–1905, at the height of the great age of harbor engineering, these beacons formed a working installation, signaling left and right to vessels entering a harbor or channel. Their survival as a matched pair in original condition is exceptional.
Each beacon is constructed with a hand-raised copper conical chimney and ventilating collar above a heavy cast brass lamp housing, the cylindrical body glazed with Fresnel panels in original red and green, respectively, retained by diagonal brass straps and original red-painted iron banding. The lower body tapers in a barrel shape with heavy brass-stave construction and a cast base with an integral fuel fitting. The original kerosene burner assemblies are preserved intact. The beacons have been sympathetically electrified for display while retaining full original integrity.
The red and green channel marker convention — port to left, starboard to right — was codified in international maritime law in the nineteenth century and remains the global standard. Beacons of this pattern were produced for harbor authorities and port commissions across Europe and their colonial networks, and installed at quay heads, breakwater terminations, and channel entrances to guide commercial and naval shipping in all visibility conditions. A matched working pair in this state of preservation, retaining original paint, glazing, and burner mechanisms, is an exceptional survivor.
Electrified. Original kerosene burner mechanisms preserved. Original paint throughout.
Price on application.
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