There is something almost implausibly slender about this Art Deco floor lamp. A few lengths of timber, three small geometric junctions and a broad polygonal foot are somehow enough to send it soaring upwards. It is less a conventional lamp standard than a framework — all line, interval and proportion.
The construction is beautifully economical. Three long oak uprights rise through a succession of darker hardwood blocks, each faceted at the edges and placed at carefully judged intervals. The eye travels upwards through them almost as it might through the elevations of a building. There is a distinctly architectural intelligence at work: repetition gives it rhythm, while the heavier geometry at the base prevents all that verticality from simply floating away.
And the materials have been used with similar restraint. What appears to be mahogany, or a closely related hardwood, is reserved for the places where it matters — the layered hexagonal foot and the small connecting planes — its deeper reddish tone sitting against the paler grain of the oak. There is no carving, ornament or unnecessary flourish. Instead, the decoration comes from the construction itself: changes of timber, bevelled edges, repeated polygons and those three impossibly long lines.
It feels very much of the Art Deco period, but not its more glamorous cocktail-bar incarnation. This is the quieter, more cerebral side of Deco, where geometry and craftsmanship begin edging towards modernism. Particularly lovely is the black flex running openly through the centre, turning something normally concealed into another vertical line within the composition.
The lamp retains its original woven shade, which gives the skeletal base exactly the visual weight it needs and produces a wonderfully warm light when illuminated. It has been sympathetically rewired with black twisted fabric cable and a brass B22 lamp holder, without disturbing the character of the original piece.
An unusually elegant old lamp — made from surprisingly little, and achieving rather a lot.
Dimensions
Full Height: 159 cm
Height to lamp holder: 134 cm
Shade width: 51 cm
Condition
Very good vintage condition with age-related wear, minor marks and surface variation to the timber, all commensurate with age. The original shade has gentle age-related wear and variation. Sympathetically rewired with black twisted fabric cable and a brass B22 lamp holder. Please refer to the photographs for detail.
Delivery
This is a larger item and requires specialist courier delivery. Delivery is charged at cost, with a tailored quote provided after ordering. Please get in touch beforehand if you would like an estimate.
