James Mont Carved Wood Table Lamp with Original Finish circa 1940s
View Similar Items
James Mont Carved Wood Table Lamp with Original Finish circa 1940s
About the Item
- Creator:James Mont (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 35 in (88.9 cm)Diameter: 5.5 in (13.97 cm)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:c.1940s
- Condition:Original wiring system with glass diffuser could be updated.
- Seller Location:Easton, PA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU85011121652
James Mont
James Mont’s life as an unmistakably talented furniture designer and interior decorator could fill the pages of a best-selling novel or be reimagined as a Hollywood feature film. From the 1930s through the 1960s, Tinseltown’s glitterati and Manhattan’s Mafia underworld coveted his sofas, coffee tables and table lamps.
Mont was born Demetrios Pecintoglu in Istanbul, Turkey, in 1904 to a family of artists. He reportedly studied architecture and art in Spain and France, and during the 1920s, Mont immigrated with his family to the United States.
Mont and his family settled in New York, where he found work in a Brooklyn electrical supply shop. There he sold hardware and designed his own lighting fixtures. The latter caught the eye of a gangster named Frankie Yale, who commissioned him to refurnish his house. Mont’s opulent designs drew on Art Deco, Hollywood Regency and were occasionally marked by chinoiserie, then a very popular trend in decorating. He created the kind of low-profile side tables and sofas that are frequently associated with mid-century modernism, and he is credited today with helping popularize the integration of Asian influences in modern American design.
Mont soon attracted New York City’s most infamous crime bosses, including Charles “Lucky” Luciano and Frank Costello. For a range of mobsters, he created fashionable, functional and sophisticated pieces such as collapsible home bars that would fold down and out of view — a particularly convenient feature during Prohibition — and tables and desks with secret drawers, which were also handy to Mont’s shady clientele.
“You bought a bar from him, and he would also deliver booze in a baby carriage,” antiques dealer and furniture retailer Todd Merrill told New York about Mont in 2008.
Mont designed a room for the World’s Fair in 1939 and later befriended Hollywood celebrities such as Bob Hope, who was best man at his wedding, Irving Berlin and Lana Turner. During the 1940s and ‘50s, Mont continued designing furniture, mastering finishing techniques such as lacquering and incorporating a distinctive “leafing” print effect with silver and gold into his pieces.
Mont’s designs enjoyed a resurgence in the 1990s, and his pieces continue to be sought after by collectors.
On 1stDibs, discover a range of vintage James Mont sideboards, tables and storage cabinets.
- Pair of James Mont Carved Wood Table LampsBy James MontLocated in Norwood, NJPair of James Mont calligraphy decorated carved wood table lamps. All original James Mont table lamps with carved Chinese calligraphy characters on all sides of tall column forms. Or...Category
Mid-20th Century American Chinoiserie Table Lamps
MaterialsWood
$1,675 / set - Substantial James Mont Carved Ebonized Wood Table Lamp, C. 1950By James MontLocated in Bainbridge, NYMonumental Handcrafted James Mont Table Lamp. Featuring a slight hourglass form in blackened carved wood with silvered details. Small footprint. Shade shown for display only (10 H x...Category
Mid-20th Century American Hollywood Regency Table Lamps
MaterialsWood
- James Mont Style 1950s Carved Helix Table LampBy James Mont, Frederick CooperLocated in New York, NYJames Mont style 1950s carved helix bleached mahogany table lamp with gilt edges on gilt block base, newly wired with new mottled paper shade.Category
Vintage 1950s American Table Lamps
- James Mont Carved, Silvered Column LampBy James MontLocated in New York, NYExquisite carved wood column lamp with a silver leaf finish by James Mont. Rewired for use in the USA. 60W max each socket.Category
20th Century American Art Deco Table Lamps
MaterialsSilver Leaf
- Midcentury James Mont Table LampBy James MontLocated in New York, NYThis James Mont table lamp is comprised of a cast bronze body with wood base and top. It was made in the Mid-20th Century. Like Mont's other eccentric designs, the lamp brings togeth...Category
Mid-20th Century Table Lamps
MaterialsBronze
- James Mont LampBy James MontLocated in West Palm Beach, FLLarge scale table lamp. Carved and gilt surface. Period shade.Category
Vintage 1950s American Table Lamps
MaterialsWood
$3,500