Unusual Constructivist Lamp

Table lamp model 600P by renowned Italian lighting designer Gino Sarfatti, produced by Arteluce, circa 1966. An early example with the cut-o...

'Illuminated Dwelling' lamp by American artist James Bearden, from his Cathedral series. Hand-forged of blackened and polished steel in 2015.. A one-of-a-kind design that is essentia...

Table lamp composed of an enameled steel tube with a tiltable Fiberglas reflector shade, designed and produced by Asian/American designer and educator Bill Lam in 1952. William M.C. (Bill) Lam (1924-2012), a pioneer in architectural lighting, was born and raised in Hawaii, entering MIT in 1941 and graduating with a degree in architecture in 1949 after serving as a pilot in the Army Air Corps in WWII. Influenced by Alvar Aalto and Charles Eames, both visiting professors at MIT, Lam established a small atelier, Lam Workshop, outside Boston in the late 1940’s, producing a series of his own lighting designs and a two-level cocktail table that gained widespread recognition in the national design press, earning MoMA Good Design selections in 1950 and 1951 as well as inclusion in close to 50 museum collections and exhibitions throughout the United States and distribution through Lightolier, Richards-Morgenthau (Raymor), Bloomingdale’s, Carroll Sagar, and numerous other showrooms and shops offering and promoting modern furnishings. His designs were merit specified for California Art & Architecture’s Case Study House program in 1950, featured in the Boston Institute of Contemporary Art’s Current Design quarterlies and in Furniture Forum, and chosen by General Electric and Westinghouse for model homes to demonstrate how to use light to best advantage. Lam would cease producing these designs in the later 1950’s, shifting his attention to the design and manufacture of prefabricated architectural lighting systems along with consulting, teaching, and writing—he taught lighting design at Harvard and MIT and authored two influential books for the lighting design profession. His 1950 drum-shaped lite-table was one of the first consumer products made of fiberglass reinforced plastic—it was shown alongside the Eames/Evans plastic shell chair in period ads for the material. He designed a fiberglass clip-on light diffuser fixture around the same time; it appeared in the Winter 1951/52 issue of Current Design with a date of design of April 1951. With a 14” diameter, it was pitched as a ceiling fixture or sconce and was intended to be “almost unbreakable and absolutely washable.” This element was then included in two pivoting armature wall lamps—one a Good Design selection--and a gooseneck floor lamp. All these designs emphasized functionality, flexibility, and economy and emitted light with a soft intimate glow. The present design was clearly to be part of this series—a steel cylinder using the fiberglass fixture to diffuse and throw light. The lamp was included in a lighting survey in Interiors in June, 1952. The description—"a tiltable Fiberglas reflector on a steel tube in enameled white, black, red or gray”--suggests that the lamp was intended for serial production and indicates that the tilting mechanism was integral to the design (the tilting finial on the lamp shows a patent date of 1942). Tilting the fixture through a range of motion to change how light is thrown locates the lamp in dialogue with several winning entries in the MoMA 1951...

Drum-shaped lite table of molded fiberglass mounted on three solid birch legs, designed and produced circa 1950 by Asian/American architectural lighting designer Bill Lam. William M....

Adjustable (up-and-down and pivoting) floor lamp with a Constructivist iron base surmounted by a quirky, almost anthropomorphic hand-molded fiberglass diffuser–an early use of fiberglass in product design. A one-off by Ross Bellah, made in the 1940’s with a design that straddles the Machine Age 1930’s and the Organic Design 1940’s. Bellah (1907-2004), along with his partner Carl Anderson...

Floor lamp with round disc base and three vertical rods surmounted by tricolor fabric shades. Designed by David Wurster and distributed by Raymor, circa ...

Large Scale Constructivist Lamp, circa 1960's. It has a very sculptural form and is executed in greys and white, with a black lacquered base and ch...

An unusual lamp by Marshall Studios/Martz. Decorated base with long walnut stem. Includes original shade/finial.

A rare and unusual ceramic lamp by Gordon Martz/Marshall Studios. Model M202-45-4 in matt black finish, appears closer to chocolate dark brown, decorated between the bulbous shapes.Original linen drum...

An unusual 1950s ceramic lamp with stylized decoration.

A most unusual Italian lamp made out parts aluminium and parts metal which has been enameled. It bears a "made in Italy" metal tag. It also has a Leviton dimmer switch which appears ...

An elegant standing lamp with chrome body and an unusual silk shade that fits in the interior shell. It takes four long bulbs, as in aquariums. The shade has points in it that receiv...