The piece is something you might expect to find in an art gallery: raku pottery in rich jewel tones achieved by rapid firing through a Japanese technique that dates to approximately the 16th Century. The one-of-a-kind creation, signed by the artist, is priced at $1,500. When it`s snapped up and given a home, it literally will light up the space. The raku base, capped with a shade, is a lamp.
Perhaps such art lamps are too esoteric and costly to ever become ubiquitous, but they reflect a bright trend. Style is becoming critical to the selling of a lamp.
”Today`s consumers have begun to understand the importance of lighting and lamps as accessories in creating the style statement of a room,” says Eric Bauer, president of Bauer Lamps, long considered one of the style leaders in the contemporary category.
Today, finding a lamp compatible with your interior is nearly as easy as flicking a switch. Each of the most popular home furnishings styles is represented: Southwest, Art Deco, neoclassic, contemporary, Oriental, country and Victorian.
Within those categories are distinct directions lamp manufacturers say are most sought after by today`s more sophisticated and discerning consumer.
It is no surprise that there is an audience for the special raku art lamp. Hand-crafted or hand-painted work, or at least the appearance of such painstaking effort, has wide appeal.
In addition, instant heritage is popular among those who respect tradition. Lamps in Renaissance marbleized paper patterns and late 18th Century stencil-cut paper shades in patterns or even contemporary abstract speckled designs allow us to reach back to our decorative past and give new respect to traditions.
OUT OF POSTMODERNISM
Part of the love affair with ancient derivatives or classical designs is an outgrowth of postmodernism. In lamp design, neoclassicism is well represented. Greco-Roman forms are everywhere. There are candlestick lanterns; bases created out of jugs and urns; fluted, plain Doric, Corinthian or Ionic columns in traditional shapes; and inverted pyramids. Rams` heads that may have decorated an ancient temple now adorn table lamps. Gold and silver leaf have been resurrected as a surface embellishment or as a dramatic shade lining.
Iron and stone, or materials that imitate them, often are the building blocks for forms that emulate archaic Mediterranean motifs. The iron usually has a rust or patina look to simulate the natural weathering of copper, bronze or brass as it is exposed to sea air or water.
Stone and many of its facsimiles have emerged as attractive alternatives to ceramic bases. Marble or faux marble, granite, malachite, lapis lazuli and fossil or coral stone in smooth or rough finishes have widespread design applications because they fit so well into traditional neoclassic themes or in sun-drenched Southwest interiors.
Texture is a major lamp design story. Sometimes, several seemingly disparate materials are married. Bauer Lamp Co. has teamed sandblasted acrylic (which resembles the coveted frosted glass of Lalique crystal) with rich metal; bleached oak is set off by bright brass. Designs from Fine Art Lamps combine brass or copper with stone, bleached mahogany with bone, and bamboo with earthenware. At Wildwood, hand-inlaid stone is accented with steel.
Lamps also are covered with skin: goat, shark (shagreen) or even frog
(grenouille). The truly tactile now can select not only from skins, but also from leathers and suedes, stones and slick lacquered or rugged surfaces complementary to textures in the upholstery on their chairs or on their walls. The neck of a lamp may be set off with a piece of rope, or the rope motif may be integrated into the design in the casting of the clay form. Leather lacings or straps may create a Southwest mood. Shades may be decorated with overlays of fabric to create a shawl effect. Swirls of braiding echo the design in the base.
ALTERNATIVES TO SILK
Parchment or paper shades have become as respectable as hand-sewn silk shades, once considered the only suitable topping for an expensive lamp. The paper shows up in high-gloss lacquer and matte finishes in a rainbow of colors for a monochromatic look.
Along with stylistic variety, all the color trends are represented, from the pastels of Southwest style to the deep, rich colors of Art Deco. Not long ago consumers were limited not only in color but to lamps crafted of solid brass, fine crystal or porcelain.
But then, the way we used lamps was different. We didn`t have to know much-only that a lamp was casual or dressy. And we placed one in our picture windows between two chairs as our welcome beacon or on a pair of tables flanking our sofas or beds as good reading light. Lamps needed to be functional, and in terms of their design, they were kind of like Muzak-they just blended in.
The more illuminating ideas traditionally have surfaced at the very high end. Contemporary architectural lighting or re-editions of classic pieces designed earlier in the century, or even antique fixtures adapted for use today, could be had by visiting designer showrooms, auctions or antique shops. For years, perhaps the manufacturers didn`t have to try too hard. Lamps really had fallen out of favor in this country because of the proliferation of architectural lighting such as tracks and recessed cans, a phenomenon that began in the `60s and picked up steam in the `70s.
Consumer tastes had gone the direction of minimalism, and manufacturers couldn`t give their lamps away, unless they were high tech halogens. Many American manufacturers didn`t even try to compete with the European avant-garde, instead offering the tried-and-true, such as the familiar ginger jar shape.
But even basic forms, the bodies themselves, often were ordered from overlapping sources in the Orient, with available colors specified by manufacturers. When all was said and done, 30 companies might have shown 30 variations of the same design.
Consumers once again are buying lamps, looking not just for function but for style. Evolving decorative cycles have thrust lamps back into the limelight. –
