NOTE: Sid Lethbridge: Adams base with dried flowers mounted on a cork insert that is marked on its underside with "Fruit Bowl / Patented / November 15, 1881 / July 25, 1882". Whether it is a base for a fruit bowl or a lamp font is unclear to me as I haven't seen a complete example of either. The patent dates refer to two patents dates - November 15, 1881 held by D C Ripley (in smaller letters) of Ripley & Co. and July 25, 1882 to Samuel Vogeley and Adolphus Adams (in larger bold letters) of Adams & Co. Katherine Thuro (Oil Lamps 3 pp 88-9) researched this type of insert and determined that they were utilized by Adams & Co. The reason for the Ripley patent was that Adams had to license the earlier patent in order to get their patent issued.