the 1890's
Lamps in
the 1890's
1. Dixon, Arthur Stansfield, hand beaten brass table lamp, 1893
2. Charles Robert Ashbee, 1895
"In 1895, Charles Robert Ashbee (1863-1942)wrote an article, 'Suggestions for Electric Light Fittings', for the Art Journal. He imagined how the ancient Greeks would have designed electric lights - as the epitome of simplicity - stating that, as light falls, the best solution for fittings is high-hanging lamps, in preference to low table lamps. He also approved of the shape of bulbs which looked like drops and therefore should be seen to hang. The exposed wires, to be covered in coloured silks, were to be very much part of the design. Ashbee also stressed the importance of a central rose, preferably made of an embossed and enamelled metal sheet, to cover the porcelain ceiling box.
In the Art Journal article, Ashbee described this chandelier, designed for the drawing room of his house, 'The Magpie and Stump' at 37 Cheyne Walk, as 'a rather elaborate arrangement of a nine-pendant rose.... Here, almost the whole effect of the design is got in the manipulation of the cords, and - a little detail in light designing that is so often forgotten - their arrangement is such as to cast pleasing and broken shadows on the ceiling. The nine-pendant circular rose in question spins a sort of grand spider-web upon white plaster'."
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via the victoria and albert museum, london