Ingo Maurer Gaku lamp - Germany, 1998

Name: Ingo Maurer Gaku lamp - Germany, 1998
Brand: Ingo Maurer
Rating: 4.8 (11 reviews)

About the Item

The Gaku table lamp by Ingo Maurer is a study in finesse, defined by a shade reminiscent of a Calla in bloom. With a palpable fragility, it diffuses light into a gentle glow. The composition balances restraint with Maurer’s characteristic wit and material sensitivity. An out-of-production collectible. The late Ingo Maurer (1932–2019), founder of design company Design M in Munich, designed intriguing lighting for over 40 years. His output is distinctive in form and concept. His desire to innovate with materials, processes and aesthetics has led to some highly eccentric works. Maurer consistently blurred the boundaries between product, sculpture and installation, producing lighting that is both experimental and emotionally resonant. The piece is in good condition, with wear commensurate with age. Minor denting to shade pleats. Rewired and PAT tested to UK standards. The maker’s label is applied to the underside. H76 W35 D30cm

Creator:
Ingo Maurer (Manufacturer)
Dimensions:
Height: 29.93 in (76 cm)Diameter: 13.78 in (35 cm)
Power Source:
Plug-in
Lampshade:
Included
Style:
Post-Modern (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Fabric
Place of Origin:
Germany
Period:
1990-1999
Date of Manufacture:
1998
Condition:
Rewired: The lamp has been recently rewired and PAT tested to UK standards. There is some light wear to the concrete base and the paper sheath has some marking and discolouration in line with age. Wear consistent with age and use.
Seller Location:
London, GB
Reference Number:
Seller: N098E1stDibs: LU1420250374902

Shop All Ingo Maurer

Ingo Maurer

German designer Ingo Maurer (1932–2019) was known as a “poet of light” for how he artfully created table lamps and floor lamps that married form and function, from bulbs that soared on goose-feather wings to chandeliers that suspended bursts of shattered tableware like a slow-motion explosion.

One of Maurer's first lamps, a 1966 design that was merely called Bulb, nested a lightbulb inside a larger glass lightbulb shape, drawing on his connection to German art traditions of reductive forms as well as Pop art and the playful aesthetics of 1960s pop culture. The success of Bulb — its fans included American design icon Charles Eames — led to the founding of his own company to produce this provocative fixture as well as other fantastic lighting designs. Later, for Maurer’s bestselling Uchiwa lamps of the 1970s, the designer found inspiration in Japanese fans made of bamboo and lacquered rice paper.

Born on the island of Reichenau in Lake Constance in southern Germany, Maurer apprenticed at a newspaper before moving to the United States in 1960. In New York and California, Maurer initially worked as a graphic designer for IBM and elsewhere before returning to Germany with his then-wife, designer Dorothee Becker, in 1963. The experience that Maurer gained in typography and bold forms was regularly expressed in the lamps crafted by his company, which was called Design M before the name was changed to Ingo Maurer GmbH. The lighting manufacturer is still based in Munich.

Some of Maurer’s pieces were minimal, such as a ceramic table lamp in 1996 he called Broken Egg, which radiated light from a fissure in an oblong shape, while others were monumental, such as the designer’s last completed installation — a colossal chandelier composed of over 3,000 silver-plated leaves — in Munich’s Residenztheater. Maurer was always at the forefront of lighting innovations, exploring holograms, LEDs and OLEDs in his projects. Through his company, the venturesome Maurer also promoted inventive new designers, including Moritz Waldemeyer, whose My New Flame (2012) imagined a futuristic candle with LEDs.

Ingo Maurer GmbH continues to produce the late designer’s distinctive table lamps, chandeliers and other fixtures, including the imaginative Bulb that started it all.

Find vintage Ingo Maurer Uchiwa lamps and other lighting for sale on 1stDibs.