Serge Mouille Brass and Black Aluminum Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamp Three-Arms

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Serge Mouille Brass and Black Aluminum Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamp Three-Arms

About the Item

Floor lamp three-arms designed by Serge Mouille in 1952. Measurements : 135 x 145 x h210 cm 53w x 57d x 83h inches. Given the rarity of Serge Mouille lamps, in 1999 his widow Gin decided to introduce a series of number limited editions of his creations since 1950. Editions Serge Mouille was born. Lamps are produced with the greatest respect for the original creation process, the integrity of the series is maintained just as the original products created by Serge Mouille himself in the 1950s. Each shape made from the same molds that were used at the time, the materials, the proportions and the techniques remain unchanged, the rods are made of steel painted black, the reflectors of black lacquered aluminum with white interiors and the joints of brass. Each piece is numbered and delivered with a certificate of authenticity. See pictured certificate as example. Each lamp has an embossed serial number and an individual certificate. Born in Paris in 1922 Serge Mouille develops very early a drawing passion. He finds his models in Garden of Plants in Paris where he spends whole hours to draw plants and animals. On the advice of his art teacher, he joins to an entrance examination of the Applied Arts where he passed the exam at thirteen years old, the youngest pupils in his time. His master, Gabriel Lacroix will make of him a master in Art of model metal with a Hammer. He is immediately enrolled with Hénin Orfèvre, where he led in the middle of skilled worker, all older than him. After the war, being run away to escape the STO, Serge Mouille started to work for oneself for many Houses. He is a famous craftsman recognized by every people. In 1954, he succeed to Gabriel Lacroix at the head of the metal workshop at the school of Applied Arts. During 44 years, he devoted his life to teaching and research on metal through studies, drawing and mono cutting. It is the meeting with Jacques Adnet, director of the Company of the French Arts, in 1951 that will be a turning point in Serge Mouille’s life. Indeed, he asks him to design a big lamp for his South American customers. Serge Mouille sets to work and passes from craftsman to creator artist with the famous Black lightings series. The standing-lamp three arms and the standing lamp one arm will be both first models. He died on Christmas night 1988 defeated by disease.

Creator:
Serge Mouille (Designer)
Dimensions:
Height: 14.97 in (38 cm)Width: 29.53 in (75 cm)Depth: 43.31 in (110 cm)
Style:
Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Aluminum,Brass,Steel
Place of Origin:
France
Period:
21st Century
Date of Manufacture:
2017
Condition:
Model in stock. Never used. Cabled for America (100-127V) or rest of world (220-240V) before shipping.
Seller Location:
Paris, FR
Reference Number:
Seller: L3B1stDibs: LU3434111365921

Shop All Serge Mouille

Serge Mouille

Instantly recognizable by their long slender armatures and domed, ovoid shades, the best-known floor lamps and other lighting fixtures of Serge Mouille have become emblems of the organic design of the mid-20th century. Along with Jean Prouvé, Mathieu Matégot and others, Mouille brought a fresh, modern aesthetic to metalwork, one of the most tradition-bound mediums in the decorative arts.

Mouille (pronounced: MWEE) was born to a working Parisian family. At age 15, he took up studies in the metalworking atelier of that École des Arts Appliqués, under the tutelage of the goldsmith and sculptor Gabriel Lacroix. After graduating, in 1941, Mouille worked in Lacroix’s studio and began teaching at his alma mater four years later.

In the early 1950s, bothered by the preponderance of new Italian lamps and chandeliers on the market and consumed with the belief that fixtures by Gino Sarfatti and others were unnecessarily complex, Mouille opened a lighting-design workshop. He quickly won commissions from several French schools and libraries. In 1956, the influential Paris gallerist Steph Simon — who also promoted Prouvé, Charlotte Perriand and Isamu Noguchi — began to show Mouille designs, introducing his work to private collectors. Mouille would continue making handcrafted lighting fixtures at a slow but steady pace until 1964, when he stopped working to begin a long course of treatment for tuberculosis. When it was completed, Mouille returned to teaching at the École des Arts Appliqués for the remainder of his career.

With the biomorphic shades and long armatures of his fixtures, Mouille created one of the most engaging and idiosyncratic lighting aesthetics of his time. Though often described as “insect-like,” his pieces have more in common with the fluid, buoyant forms in the paintings of Jean Arp. (Mouille designed several cylindrical or columnar lamps; though highly collectible, those are interesting outliers in his body of work.)

As with Prouvé’s folded metal forms and Matégot’s perforated steel, Mouille brought a novel lightness and energy to metal furnishings. Since Mouille’s designs found renewed popularity in the early 2000s, licensed re-editions of his pieces are being produced. The disparity in price between vintage and current-day Mouille pieces is great. Older works — identification tip: the interior white reflective enameling has a yellowish cast — cost $20,000 to $40,000, and newer pieces go for 10 to 20 percent less than that. As you will see on these pages, Serge Mouille created icons of 20th century design — at once sleek, suave and friendly — that belong in any modern decor.

Find vintage Serge Mouille table lamps, chandeliers and other lighting on 1stDibs.