Oil Pan

This is an accessary to a lampstand, and is hung under the lampstand in order to catch oil or impurities flowing down from the wick. It is generally shaped like a bullhorn, a breast, or an oval, and on both sides of its rim, there are two holes through which a string is laced in order to hang the oil catcher from the lampstand. It is often made of ceramics, a bull’s horn that is cut and hollowed out, or paper twisted into a bowl shape before being oiled. Since a bullhorn oil catcher becomes dirty after being used for a long time, those made of ceramics in various shapes became favored instead. The one shown here is a breast-shaped white ceramic oil catcher. This type was among the most commonplace, with its curved outline getting wider from a pointed center to the mouth. Usually light grey in color, it has a trace of a sand support at its mouth, since it could not be stood on the ground and therefore had to be fired upside down.