Lamps and their designers

These two lamps are Kaiser idell Lamps. No. 1 I found at eBay. It is vintage. Antique. Original.

No. 2 is a contemporary production of the same lamp.

The contemporary KAISER idell™ collection is produced in different versions: Table-, wall-, floor lamps and pendants. Produced by Fritz Hansen ApS.
KAISER idell is original Bauhaus design. The series is based on a world-patented swivel joint and the characteristic dome embossed with ”ORIGINAL KAISER-idell”.
The lamps are made in steel and brass and the lampshades are hand painted in high gloss. The crome-plated lamp elements consist of hand polished and silver-soldered brass.

The designer behind the lamp was Christian Dell who was a German silversmith and designer. From 1922-25 he worked as a foreman of the metal workshop at the Bauhaus in Weimar where he was the man behind a highly innovative and pioneering style of design.

The Bauhaus occupies a place of its own in the history of the 20th century culture; architecture, design, art and new media. As one of the first colleges of design, it brought together a number of the most outstanding contemporary architects and artists.

And these two lamps are The Cobra Lamp designed by Greta Grossman-Magnusson, you can read more about her in a previous post here. The first one is vintage, an original Cobra Lamp. No. 2 is a contemporary production of the same lamp, produced by (another Danish company) Gubi who own the rights to reproduce the late Mrs. Grossman-Magnusson’s lamps.

The Grossman Collection

The most iconic products Greta Grossman designed in the 40’s and 50’s were the Gräshoppa floor lamp and the Cobra floor and table lamps. In 1950, the Cobra lamp won the Good Design Award and was subsequently exhibited at the Good Design Show at the Museum of Modern Art.

Grossman was highly influenced by European Modernism, which had been imported to the US by influencial architects, such as Walter Gropius (founder of the Bauhaus) and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Grossman, in turn, played a significant role in defining the aesthetic of mid-century Californian Modernism.

The iconic Gräshoppa lamp was first produced in 1947. The tubular steel tripod stand is tilted backward and the elongated aluminium conical shade is ball-jointed onto the arm; so the light can be directional, yet the glare is minimal. Both stand and shade are powder-coated. The classic Cobra lamp takes its name from the shape of the oval shade, which is reminiscent of a Cobra’s neck. The tubular flexible arm can be bent in all directions and the shade can be rotated through 360º. The base is covered in powder-coated aluminium and weighted with a cast iron ballast.

Today, Grossman’s product designs are highly collectible and are sold at auctions all around the world. Grossman’s products are unique, modern classic designs.

About Greta Magnusson Grossman

Greta Grossman (1906-1999) maintained a prolific forty-year career on two continents: Europe and North America. Her achievements were many and encompassed industrial design, interior design and architecture. In 1933, having successfully completed her fellowship at the renowned Stockholm arts institution, Konstfack, she opened Studio, a combined store and workshop. During the same year Grossman married jazz musician, Billy Grossman with whom she later emigrated to the United States, settling in Los Angeles.

Through the 40’s and 50’s Grossman exhibited her designs at museums worldwide, including MoMA in New York and The National Museum in Stockholm.
information retrieved from Gubi

And then there are these lamps. Also designed by Mrs. Grossman-Magnusson and both are pictures of vintage lamps. Originals If you so will. They are not in production but I think they should be. I really like the original look of them both. They seem to be a little bit of this, a little bit of that. Fusion. And we all know that I am all for fusion.