Kalmar Josef Frank Floor Lamp Bamboo Brass, Austria, 1950s
View Similar Items
Kalmar Josef Frank Floor Lamp Bamboo Brass, Austria, 1950s
About the Item
- Creator:J.T. Kalmar (Maker),Josef Frank (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 63 in (160 cm)Diameter: 11.82 in (30 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Vienna, AT
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU5244220412452
Josef Frank
Austrian architect and furniture and fabric designer Josef Frank was a leading voice for a gentle, humane modernism. His advocacy of warm, comfortable, eclectically styled environments was highly influential in his adopted country of Sweden, and it’s now widely regarded as a harbinger of the backlash against doctrinaire modernism and the embrace of the homespun that occurred in the late 1960s.
The son of a successful Viennese textile manufacturer, Frank studied architecture at Vienna University of Technology, graduating in 1910. From the first years of his practice, he marched counter to the orderly, symmetrical architectural layouts and decors prescribed by contemporaries such as Adolf Loos.
Frank drafted rooms of varying shapes and called for flexible interior-design arrangements. His furniture pieces are light and easy to move — and his chairs are always made of wood, most often with lushly curved steam-bent arms and slatted backs. Frank openly loathed the tubular steel furnishings and “machine for living” aesthetic promoted by Le Corbusier and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and other Bauhaus principals. “The home must not be a mere efficient machine,” Frank once said. “It must offer comfort, rest and coziness…. There are no puritan principles in good interior decoration.”
Frank — who was Jewish — sensed the dire implications of the rise of Nazism in Germany and Austria, and in 1933 he moved to Stockholm with his Swedish wife, Anna. He became the design chief for the furnishings maker Svenskt Tenn and found a perfect match culturally for his brand of simple, relaxed and bright creations. Like many modernists — notably Charles and Ray Eames and Alexander Girard — Frank had a deep love of folk art, which influenced his designs for a wide array of colorful, richly patterned upholstery fabrics, many based on the classic “Tree of Life” motif.
In all his designs, Frank took inspiration from a broad variety of sources. In his furniture, one can discern traces of Asian patterns, Rococo, Italian Renaissance, Scandinavian handicrafts and even Chippendale pieces. As such, the work of Frank — the friendly modernist — is at home in any type of décor.
Find vintage Josef Frank pillows, armchairs, floor lamps and other furniture on 1stDibs.
J.T. Kalmar
In 1881, Julius August Kalmar founded Kalmar, a Viennese company that produced handcrafted objects of cast bronze. Kalmar developed a fine reputation and exhibited internationally often, but it was Kalmar’s son, Julius Theodor (J.T.) Kalmar, who took over in 1913 and made the company shine with its modernist lighting.
Having studied at the Birmingham School of Art and Design and under the Austrian architect Josef Hoffmann at the Vienna School of Applied Arts, J.T. was deeply inspired by the shift to modernity taking place in Europe and sought to work with the leading architects and designers of his time, including Austrian Werkbund architects Josef Frank and Oskar Wlach as well as Ernst Plischke, Clemens Holzmeister and Oswald Haerdtl. Similar to the Wiener Werkstätte cooperative cofounded by Hoffmann that prized materials, form and function, Kalmar viewed his company’s lighting fixtures as “quite humble things” meant to “fit in and serve their purpose of functionally illuminating spaces without glare.”
In 1925, Kalmar began selling in Haus und Garten, the forward-looking decor shop founded by Frank and Wlach. By 1931, a close partnership with the Austrian Werkbund association of architects, artists and craftsmen allowed the company to realize its vision of early 20th-century modernity — a distinctly Viennese pairing of traditional workmanship with contemporary technology. These collaborations included chandeliers and other fixtures using traditional materials such as glass, bronze and brass while focusing on function over ornamentation. As the company grew, so too did the scope of its projects, and soon Kalmar was installing extravagant chandeliers for the Vienna State Opera, the Burgtheater, Vienna stock exchange and other sites.
Under the guidance of Rudolf Calice, J.T. Kalmar’s son-in-law, the 1960s saw Kalmar’s popularity grow, thanks in part to the success of more decorative pieces like the ice-glass fixtures created with Austrian sculptor Karl Gruber. Thomas Calice, the great-grandson of Kalmar’s founder, led the company in the 1990s and its expansion to international lighting projects while shifting away from serial production. In 2009, Thomas’s son August Chalice established Kalmar Werkstätten to produce fixtures that reference the Kalmar archives but also feature updates on the iconic designs. Kalmar continues to produce bespoke fixtures while also working on custom lighting projects around the world, from cruise ships to the Burj Khalifa.
On 1stDibs, find a collection of vintage J.T. Kalmar lighting that includes chandeliers, wall lights, floor lamps and other fixtures.
- Josef Frank Adjustable Floor Lamp 'Neolift' by J.T. Kalmar, Brass Wood, 1950sBy Josef Frank, J.T. Kalmar, Haus und GartenLocated in Hausmannstätten, ATA gorgeous and rare foor lamp model 'Neolift' model no. 2018 designed by Josef Frank ca. 1930 for Haus & Garten. The offered piece was manufactured by J.T. Kalmar, Vienna, in midcent...Category
Vintage 1950s Austrian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsBrass
- Rare Floor Lamp by Josef Frank for J.T.Kalmar Around 1950sBy Josef Frank, J.T. KalmarLocated in Wien, ATRare Floor lamp by josef Frank for J.T.Kalmar around 1950s Brass polished and stove enamelled The fabric shade is replaced ( new ) Rewired ( new ).Category
Vintage 1950s Austrian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsBrass
- Tripod Midcentury Floor Brass lamp from Josef Frank by Kalmar, Austria 1940sBy Josef Frank, J.T. KalmarLocated in Halle, DEAn ultra rare Tripod Floor Brass lamp from Josef Frank by Kalmar, Austria 1940s Made of Brass this Lamp is real fine masterpiece of this era. With the elegant formed 3-leg lampbase a...Category
Vintage 1940s Austrian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsBrass
- Josef Frank Two-Arms Mid-Century Adjustable Brass Floor Lamp, Austria, 1950sBy Josef FrankLocated in Vienna, ATA very beautiful and unusual Viennese brass floor lamp, attr. Josef Frank in the early 1950s. A charming lamp with two rotatable and height-adjustable arms and lovely details. In excellent condition. Has been carefully restored and rewired and comes with its original refurbished red lampshades.Category
Mid-20th Century Austrian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsBrass
$3,900 Sale Price32% Off - Josef Frank, Floor Lamp, 1950s, SwedenBy Svenskt Tenn, Josef FrankLocated in Los Gatos, CAJosef Frank, floor lamp, model 2564, Firma Svenskt Tenn. Mahogany feet. Brass with a white lacquered stem. Textile-covered screen. Height 150 cm.Category
Vintage 1950s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsBrass
- Josef Frank J.T. Kalmar Brass Bamboo Table Lamp 'Tisch-Überall', 1950s, AustriaBy Haus & Garten, Josef Frank, J.T. KalmarLocated in Biebergemund, HessenImportant & rare, early 1940s 'Tisch Überall' table lamp mod. 1092, designed by Josef Frank for Haus & Garten and manufactured by J.T. Kalmar, handmade in the Viennese Modern...Category
Vintage 1940s Austrian Vienna Secession Table Lamps
MaterialsBrass