{"id":65283,"date":"2016-04-14T16:59:37","date_gmt":"2016-04-14T20:59:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.1stdibs.com\/blogs\/the-study\/?p=65283"},"modified":"2021-12-15T01:02:02","modified_gmt":"2021-12-15T06:02:02","slug":"grand-tour-lamp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.1stdibs.com\/blogs\/the-study\/grand-tour-lamp\/","title":{"rendered":"Can You Guess What this Mystery Object Was Used For?"},"content":{"rendered":"

At 1stdibs, we see beautiful and historically valuable examples of art and design each day \u2014 some of which intrigue us, baffle us or prove that we haven\u2019t seen it all. In The Study\u2019s Mystery Objects column, we look at an extraordinary offering from the 1stdibs inventory and reveal its intended (but not totally obvious) purpose. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\"kateshadow\"\n

Is it an Art Deco sculpture, serving piece or modernist candle? With its confounding structures \u2014 one a perfectly round sphere and the other triangular \u2014 resting on a translucent panel of glass, this mysterious object could easily be any or none of those things.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s <\/span>actually a collectible table lamp<\/span><\/a>, says Lucia Howard, the owner of <\/span>Piraneseum<\/a>, a San Francisco<\/span> gallery that’s a leading source of antique and vintage Grand Tour souvenirs \u2014 those exquisite architectural models, drawings and etchings made from the 17th to early-20th centuries for wealthy tourists to remember their travels through Europe.<\/span><\/p>\n

The lamp was exclusively made for the New York World\u2019s Fair of 1939, which featured two distinctive theme buildings, the Trylon and Perisphere. Designed by architects Wallace Harrison and Andre Fouilhoux, the Trylon, a three-sided pylon, stood 610 feet high while its companion measured 185 feet in diameter. Howard says the structures built in Flushing Meadows Park, in Queens, New York, were so huge, \u201cyou could see them for miles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inside the Perisphere, a diorama called Democracity depicted a utopian city of the future, which could be viewed from above on a moving sidewalk. Though meant to be temporary, both structures became enduring symbols of the 1939 fair, whose theme was \u201cThe World of Tomorrow.\u201d That year, the U.S. issued a postage stamp of the icons, and they appeared on a wide range of other promotional materials, including the lamp. \u201cThere were a lot of paperweights, salt and pepper shakes, things like that,” Howard says. “But this particular lamp is extremely unusual. I\u2019ve hardly seen one like it.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s key to remember lamps were popular during that period because the technology wasn\u2019t highly developed. \u201cLight was just so fascinating to people back then,\u201d she says, \u201cthe drama and technology of it. Lots of colored lights were coming in and in use at the world\u2019s fairs. It was a time to experiment.\u201d The lamp may even replicate how the Trylon and Perisphere were lit.<\/p>\n

Another reason the lamp made a good souvenir was its utility. \u201cThese souvenirs aren\u2019t just meant to help you remember, they have the quality of being useful,\u201d Howard says. \u201cIt does work as a nightlight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given the fair\u2019s popularity, it\u2019s not hard to imagine a parent bringing this sort of gift home to a child \u2014 or for a child to have selected it on her own. \u201cI constantly meet people who went to the fair when they were a toddler,\u201d Howard says, wistfully. \u201cThe lamp is kind of a toy and has a fun component to it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Story by Jill Krasny, a New York City-based writer. View more of Jill’s work here<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At 1stdibs, we see beautiful and historically valuable examples of art and design each day \u2014 some of which intrigue us, baffle us or prove that we haven\u2019t seen it all. In The Study\u2019s Mystery Objects column, we look at an extraordinary offering from the 1stdibs inventory and reveal its intended (but not totally obvious) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":65823,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15522093],"tags":[1306043,258,363623,362843,1312,1386683],"dibs-categories":[],"dibs-designs":[],"dibs-styles":[],"dibs-creators":[],"dibs-sellers":[],"class_list":["post-65283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-furniture","tag-grand-tour-souvenir","tag-history","tag-lamps","tag-lighting","tag-mystery-object","tag-worlds-fair"],"acf":{"subtitle":""},"dibs_designs_tags":null,"dibs_sellers_tags":null,"dibs_creators_tags":null,"dibs_styles_tags":null,"dibs_categories_tags":null,"featured_image_url":"https:\/\/www.1stdibs.com\/blogs\/the-study\/wp-content\/uploads\/kateshadow-e1460666761733-500x450.jpg","post_title":"Can 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