The sconce was a light fixture on the wall. A bracket of brass or iron that held a candle or a gas flame or an electric bulb at eye level. The sconce lit the hallway from the side and the side light made shadows on the wall and the shadows gave the hallway depth. The sconce was the hallway's mood. The overhead fluorescent is the hallway's interrogation.

The sconce was gas before it was electric. The gas sconce had a small flame behind a glass shade and the flame flickered and the flicker was the light breathing. The gasman came once a month to check the pressure and the flame and the sconce burned all night in the hallway so you could find your door. The gas sconce smelled like the building was alive. The LED sconce has no smell. A light without a smell is a light without a body.

The sconce threw light up. That was the design. The shade was open at the top and closed at the bottom and the light went up to the ceiling and bounced back down and the room was lit from above by a light on the wall. The sconce understood that direct light is harsh and indirect light is kind. The ceiling became the lampshade. The whole room was the lamp. The recessed can light throws a circle of light straight down like a spotlight on a stage. The sconce said you are in a room. The can light says you are in a spot.

The sconce was paired. One on each side of the mirror. One on each side of the mantel. One on each side of the door. The pair was the design. Two sconces framing a mirror made the mirror the subject and the sconces the punctuation. The single overhead light makes the room the subject and the subject is everything and when the subject is everything the subject is nothing.

They ripped out the sconces. The renovation took the gas sconces off the wall and patched the holes and put recessed lights in the ceiling. Six cans in a row. The light is even and bright and it has no opinion about the room. The sconce had an opinion. The sconce said this wall is worth looking at and this part of the room is where you should stand. The recessed light says the whole room is the same. The whole room is never the same.

See also: Gas Lamp, Lamp Oil