Not all Lard Lamps have removable burners, some lamps utilize a burner that is part of the construction of the lamp. Displayed below are the removable types to show some of the variety that exists.
Lard burners have a unique design in which the burners are made to heat up and liquify the lard, therefore the oil reservoir is typically no larger than the area in which the burner can reach the fuel. The burners typically follow the same basic concept of a heat conducting material (usually copper) that goes down into the lard. They are commonly found with flat wicks although some were curved around the conductor, and it is not uncommon to find burners that use mutiple wicks.
There is one burner design that stands out from all the rest, these are the Samuel Rust patent burners made in the 1830’s and 1840’s. The unique feature of this burner is the use of a wick raiser with roller of a simple design and the pictures below will show various shapes and styles of this burner. When the kerosene era came in the late 1850’s this design was adopted as the standard for raising and lowering the wick – a design that was truely ahead of its time.