Paul KISS French Art Deco Alabaster & Wrought-Iron Table Lamp, 1920

Paul Kiss helped elevate metalwork to an art form in the 1920s and 1930s, creating beautiful Art Deco-inspired furniture like table lamps and wall mirrors with exquisite ornate details. The pieces often featured geometric designs, plant motifs and human and animal figures.

Kiss was born in Hungary in 1885, but he settled in Paris in 1907. There, he worked under Raymond Subes and Edgar Brandt, two of the most celebrated metalworkers of the day. After World War I, Kiss opened his own studio and showroom on the city’s rue Léon-Delhomme. Kiss designed and produced numerous pieces of iron furniture throughout the 1920s and 1930s. He was commissioned to restore historic monuments and make new public monuments as well. Among his clients were the kings of Siam and Egypt.

Kiss produced the metalwork for the Monuments aux Morts war memorial in Levallois-Perret, France, for which he received the silver medal at the Salon des Artistes Français in 1924. In 1925, he exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs and the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes.

In the 1920s, Kiss was a mentor to the skilled young designer Paul Fehér. Fehér later moved to the United States, where he became a distinguished designer for Rose Iron Works, continuing the tradition handed down to him by Kiss.

On 1stDibs, find vintage Paul Kiss lighting, mirrors, serveware and more.