First oil lamps of manmade materials were found in the Egypt, Greece and Rome and are considered probably the first mass produced objects in history.
They were made from terracotta, bronze, stone and alabaster, in a shape of a dish that would hold oil and a place for a wick that would prolong burning and prevented the whole surface of the oil to catch fire.
Olive oil was used as a fuel as well as sesame oil, fish oil, whale oil and beeswax.
From the open dish, design changed to closed with a spout for a wick and from production on the pottery wheel to production in mould which gave better quality and enabled decoration of the lamps.
That design stayed the same until the 18th century when Aime Argand, Swiss chemist, invented and patented “Argand Lamp”. His lamp consisted of container for oil as all the other lamps but had cylindrical wick to give larger surface for a larger flame and glass tube chimney around the flame to direct the draft, make a stronger flame and make lamp safer for carrying.
Reign of the oil lamp lasted until the middle of the 19th century when kerosene lamp appears on the scene, but in some places endured well in to the 20th century especially in the places that got electricity late.
Today it’s used as an ambient light or in religious ceremonies.