Actually, it was just parked at the curb while I was cycling by. Since I don't usually find stuff like this in the garbage, I decided to take it in for a look-see. It's a floor lamp who's shade appears designed to hang over an end table, as it is unusually low (or high, depending on your POV). In the pic, the arm is mounted to its highest point. Despite the low hang, to where you will not see the bulb, the shade is sealed by a bottom piece (see pic). The shade is poly (plastic), the rest is heavy duty metal, and it has a chrome foot switch. I was thinking if I revive this thing, I could maybe clean the rust off the chrome and spray paint the base white, instead of the monkey vomit off-white colour it now has. But I'm wondering, is it worth it? Were there a million of these around in the 60's / 70's? (Is it 60's or 70's?) Anyone seen something like it?
I reckon..
I can't identify it, but I reckon the arm has been bent down. You need to bend it back up, however, I think it would crease or kink (or perhaps snap due to metal fatigue).
I had a similar lamp I found at a garage sale. I don't reckon it's worth very much, so i wouldn't be mortgaging my house to fix it, but it's cool in that psace-age 60s kinda way.
Was the lamp you had...
Was the lamp you had _really_ similar? Because I'm not sure the arm has been bent. At least it does not appear to have a sharp bump where the bend is supposed to be. It's a relatively smooth curve. So I'm wondering if its possible this was supposed to hang low, like over an end table, rather than high like your typical space-age arch lamp. I would need to know before I start trying to unbend something that wasn't bent to begin with! As for taking out a mortgage, well I don't expect it to cost much to bring this thing back to life. About the cost of a can of white spray paint (and I believe I already have some in my closet). Also, a cord because the cord was cut off, but I know I have many of those around. And we can throw in whatever an SOS Jr. pad costs.... It's really mostly an investment in time. I'm just wondering if its worth investing the time to keep this thing. (In the equasion, is the fact that I have a marble-base arch lamp, and I think if I plug in one more lamp, I will need my own power station...).
Well, we're still debating...
Well, we're still debating whether it's supposed to be a gooseneck lamp or a wider arch type lamp that was somehow bent into this tighter gooseneck curve. I'm leaning toward the idea that what is pictured is how the lamp was designed. Based on that I can't find any outward signs of damage at the bend (as though metal were forced into a sharp bend), and if you look at the adjustment of the arm, it's adjusted vertically (up and down). Yet my arch lamp, like most others, is adjusted to extend the curve of the arm. It's not a height adjustment. This leads me to believe the globe was meant to hang over a side table. This makes more sense in the photo below, where you can see the light pattern, and the lamp over a "sympathetic" end table.
The globe hangs by gravity, so no you can't adjust it's angle. Actually, it is dangling by its wire, as with most arch lamps. You can however adjust the position of the globe (where you want it to hang over), by simply swinging the arm to whatever position. Question is, after plucking it out, what would you do with it? Would you fix it up and actually keep it in your place, or send it back on its merry way to the dump? I mean I could make this work, as I have a chrome table lamp on the opposite side of the sofa, which has a near identical glass globe that perches at the same height as this one. But to do so, I'd have to make redundant a new modern lamp I just bought for that space, that won't fit anywhere else...(I'm referring to the one pictured in the first photo behind the space-age dumpster lamp, the floor lamp with the white collapsible "basketball" shade, on the right, just next to the shelving system).
I think it's been bent. ...
I think it's been bent. Look at the section of metal right before you get to the lamp shade -- it's pretty straight isn't it? Wouldn't it make more sense (design-wise) to have the straight section (at the end of a curve) be vertical than at some random angle? It's less desirable to have a cord rubbing up against a metal edge like that too. And I think there's a pretty sharp (and less than elegant) bend to it. I'm not sure you could bend it back with out breaking it (or if you could ever get it to look right) -- though I suppose since everyone's having such a hard time deciding which way it should go, you can leave it and it won't really matter.
I think it's too nice for the trash dump, but I wouldn't put a whole lot of work into it.
I'm nearly certain that your...
I'm nearly certain that your lamp is on of the myriad of Arco lamp knockoffs produced in the last 20 years.
On the pic below, look at the lamp on the left....the base and neck look alot like an unbendy version of yours.
If I had enough time and patience, its likely I could find your exact lamp
Contrast
I'm having contrasting views on this. On one hand,as a static piece, I find the design of the curved metal portion to be unnecessary and excessive. If it were articulating, like a dentist lamp, the purpose would make more sense.
The other view...more accepting... Seems better off in a large open space like a loft apartment..where the grace of the curves can be enjoyed more clearly. In the photos, far too cramped and jangly between other large furnishings. Anyway one looks at it, was a worthy rescue.
Thats my take
Found its cousin! Pt. 1/2
brbeard: It's after looking closely at this lamp that I surmised it can't have been bent, it must be the original shape. The biggest tip-off is the straight stem, which fits into the cream-colored base, and who's height can be adjusted vertically. Why would you be adjusting the shade to go up or down, if this was originally an arc lamp, meant to perch high? In an arc lamp, you extend the shade further out or closer in. The section of metal right before the lampshade is the other thing that told me this was meant to be in the shape it's in. It's not at all straight, it's curved. But if this was originally a high-perching arc lamp, why would it be curved inward like a fiddlehead at the end? This could only mean it was bent not only at the beginning of the arc, but in at least numerous places at the end of the arc, just before the shade. Not only is this highly unlikely, but running your fingers along the curves of the arm, (anywhere on the arm), it's a smooth ride. If the metal were bent, especially in several places and especially to a large degree at the beginning of the arc, the metal would show an indication of this, but there isn't. What you may be seeing at the very end of the arc, as the arm meets the lampshade, is not straight - the arm ends curved. The shade dangles vertically because there is a small bit of the cord that extends beyond the steel arm - same principle as in my other arc lamp and all others I've seen. The cord is not rubbing against the metal, because there's a plastic piece at the end of the metal.
BTW, I tried unbending it and this thing does not unbend easily, let alone bend easily. So even if it was bent from the original design, it would be impossible for me to unbend it and expect to shape it into any angle I wanted, and also expect the finished result to look perfect, and not damaged in any way. I agree the bend at the top is pretty sharp and less than elegant... but that's how the designer made it, and you take it or leave it! He made it curvy enough that there's still a flow to the shape, even if it hits a sharp corner at the top. Why the sharp, less-than-elegant corner? Well if you think about the design, the lamp takes up less space this way, than if it were to have a smoother (wider) arc. And if you look at where I have had to place the lamp, you can see that this is a more functional design! If the arc were any more graceful, I would not be having this conversation, because the issue of whether to keep the lamp or not would be moot. You know, if I decide to keep it, it would only cost me about 2 hrs and maybe $5 in materials to give it a new lease on life. I think I can swing that.
Found its cousin! Pt. 2/2
jesgord: I am nearly certain this lamp is not a knockoff of anything! Thanks for trying to ID it, but the pics you show don't look anything like my lamp. Those are your typical arc lamp (I have one with a marble base, very similar to the one on the right in your photo). As to the one on the left, it's hard to tell but there appears to be a piece at the top that allows you to extend the arc; mine has no way to extend the arc out. I did however do some research myself and found a very close cousin to my dumpster lamp! (See site below) It would make perfect sense that this is an Italian lamp from the 70's, because I found it right outside an Italian bakery, in a district heavily populated by Italians. The polycarbonate shade of the lamp in the photo on the site is exactly the same as mine, same cover underneath, same 3 brass fixing screws around the side, except the top of theirs is in yellow, and the bulb enters the bottom instead of the top of the globe (since theirs is a fixed floor lamp, not a hanging floor lamp). The base looks to be very much the same as mine, except the chrome ring where the stand meets the base is off-center on my model. The chrome footswitch is exactly the same as mine! I'd say whoever designed my lamp, designed their lamp as well.
RARE SPACE AGE PLASTIC MUSHROOM CHROME FLOOR LAMP, ITALY, $359:
http://www.modernabode.com/L024.html
WoofWoof: Thanks for your take. I was thinking along the same lines, that this lamp makes more sense in a larger space (like a loft), than in the cramped quarters I have for it. Despite the fact that it seems to be a natural partner over a Saarinen-style side table. Ok, it was a worthy rescue, but if it doesn't look right in the limited space I have for it, that still leaves the question of what to do with it! (BTW, let me just confirm that you can't adjust the arc of the curved metal portion (arm), it is solid chromed steel. You can only raise the entire piece up and down. Still, the purpose of the static arc does make sense to me, if you consider this lamp is only designed to hang the shade over top of an end table. And not, say, check the state of your fillings. 😉 It basically takes the place of a table lamp, but without the base of a table lamp. Which allows you to have more room on the table. This can better be seen in visual terms in the snap I took below, which shows the space age 70's lamp on the right side of the sofa, and a glass mushroom globe table lamp on the left side. Note how the table lamp on the left leaves very little space on the little end table!).
http://www.modernabode.com/L024.html
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