Midcentury Chrome Swing-Arm Desk Lamp by Walter Von Nessen
View Similar Items
Midcentury Chrome Swing-Arm Desk Lamp by Walter Von Nessen
About the Item
- Creator:Nessen Studio (Manufacturer),Walter Von Nessen (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 19.25 in (48.9 cm)Width: 21 in (53.34 cm)Depth: 12 in (30.48 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:20th Century
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU156927195183
Walter Von Nessen
Art Deco industrial designer Walter von Nessen is best known for his glamorous Machine Age lighting designs and for his invention of the swing-arm lamp. Von Nessen was born in Germany, where he studied under Bruno Paul at Berlin’s Kunstgewerbeschule. After World War I, he worked for the architect Peter Behrens, in Berlin. He left in 1919 for Stockholm, where he designed furniture until emigrating with his wife, Margaretta, to the United States in 1923. In 1927, the couple opened Nessen Studios in Manhattan, designing and selling sleek, modern architectural lighting.
Art Deco was both novel and exciting in the late 1920s — as, indeed, was electricity itself — and Nessen Studios was at the forefront of the movement. Electric lighting designers at the time had no direct models to follow. The shapes and silhouettes of gas lamps, lanterns and chandeliers had been influenced by those of the kerosene-, oil- and candle-lit fixtures that preceded them, which in turn were informed by the fuels they used. Electric lighting required designs that accommodated essentials of the new technology, like cords and sockets. Von Nessen and his contemporaries thus had to create fixtures that addressed these challenges and looked modern without appearing overly mechanical.
Along with industrial-design visionaries of the period like Raymond Loewy, Gilbert Rohde and Donald Deskey, von Nessen crafted a style that was emblematic of the Machine Age. He produced lamps and home accessories from spun aluminum, with smooth surfaces that evoked the polished gleam of streamlined automobiles and airplanes. And he experimented with other popular materials of the era, such as Bakelite, chrome and fiberglass. His ingenious design for the now-ubiquitous swing-arm lamp earned him a reputation as an innovator.
Von Nessen’s work is represented in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian National Design Museum, among other institutions. Designed to complement the luxurious interiors of the 1920s and ‘30s, still look fresh nearly a century later.
More From This Seller
View AllMid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Porcelain, Wood
Vintage 1970s Danish Scandinavian Modern Table Lamps
Linen, Glass
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Table Lamps
Marble, Brass
Mid-20th Century Chinese Table Lamps
Brass
20th Century American Table Lamps
Brass
Vintage 1970s Italian Modern Table Lamps
Chrome
You May Also Like
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Metal, Chrome
Vintage 1950s American Table Lamps
Milk Glass
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Brass
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Steel, Chrome
Vintage 1970s North American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Brass
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Metal, Brass
