The mantle and its wire support structure can easily be seen in this picture of a black and white moonstone Corinthian. Before lighting a lamp for the first time, the mantle itself must be lit and allowed to burn off. It takes only a few seconds for it to burn off the outside coating, turning a light gray color in the process. It becomes extremely fragile after this process and care must be taken not to bump or touch the mantle at any time or it will disintegrate into ashes.

 Due to the fragile nature of the mantles you will find that most of the Aladdin lamps on this web site were photographed without their mantles. I apologize for having to detract from their unique appearance but found it to be a necessary evil since my lack of dexterity would easily exceed my supply of mantles!