Who Am I?

This weekend I received an email from a new Ars Longa reader, Brian, which mentioned a very interesting lamp he found (see the photo here). Initially he thought it was a Florence Knoll design, but a visit to the Knoll Furniture Museum disproved that attribution. Many other designer's names came up in our short discussion: Greta Grossman, Arthur Umanoff, Tony Paul. So far, however, neither of us has been able to positively ID it, and there aren't and markings or labels that give the manufacturer away ... so I'm turning to you, dear reader. If you have any ideas of whom may have designed Brian's lamp, I'd really appreciate you letting me know. It's an interesting shape that I'd really like to be able to put a name to. Thanks for your help!

  • 01.25.10

Steve Basile commented: A reasonable guess would be Yamaha:
http://bit.ly/4C6JzF

  • 1.25.10

Scott commented: Are you just being cute, Steve, or did Yamaha actually produce lamps?

Steve Basile commented: On a 'serious' note, it might be called a drum or snare lamp with that shape and stand.

  • 1.25.10

robert devine commented: Hi Scott,

My first impression screamed French design

best,
robert

  • 1.26.10

Scott commented: It's interesting you say that, Robert. I hadn't considered it might be a French design, but I can see why you had that reaction to it. It's definitely a possibility worth looking into. Lately I've been thinking it could be Scandinavian, but haven't been able to follow my gut feeling up with any real documentation.

Brian commented: Thank you for the comments. Just wanted to add that this lamp is most likely from the 1950s and has a non-polarized plug. I thought the 3 disc feet looked similar to the feet on Greta Grossman's grasshopper lamp.

  • 1.30.10

charlie commented: Frederic Weinberg would be another one worth looking into. There isn't a lot of online info about his company but I've seen catalogs come up on ebay over the years. They produced a ton of store fixtures, lighting, furniture, and decorative objects in a similar style. This guy would be worth contacting: http://fredericweinberg.blogspot.com/

  • 2.1.10

charlie commented: Forgot something.. the French angle seems plausible to me as well. Come to think of it, I seem to remember seeing similar Belgian and/or Dutch designs. If it is from the 50's (or even 60's) it almost certainly isn't Scandinavian.

  • 2.1.10

Scott commented: I'm curious to know why you don't think it could be Scandinavian if from the 50s or 60s, Charlie?

The Weinberg lead is an interesting thought. I do also agree with Brian that Greta Grossman's lamps form the early 1950s aren't too far off from some of the ideas used with this particular lamp.

Brian commented: Charlie, I viewed the Frederic Weinberg website. Really great designs! I emailed some pictures of the lamp to them.

  • 2.4.10

Brian commented: I just received notification from the guys who run the Weinberg website that they are unable to confirm this is a Frederic Weinberg design. At this time, they do not possess any documents or catalogs with this lamp pictured.

  • 2.4.10

About the Archives ...

These news archives span back to Ars Longa's inception in August of 2004. Due to this longevity, many of the older posts may feature external links that have gone dead. Over time websites move pages and some even close shop altogether. I apologize for these inconsistencies, but in the interest in maintaining a full archive even entries whose links have expired will remain in place on Ars Longa.

Scott Lindberg

Scott Lindberg
Sllab Modern
scott@sllab.net