Posted 3 years ago
Sammyz
(93 items)
I could use some assistance from you more experienced Loetz collectors! I bought this pretty bronze/brass lamp made by H. Luppens & Cie., a foundry based in Brussels during the 19th c. The ornate lamp has the Luppens circular mark on the base. Luppens was known to collaborate with some high end artists and produced some beautiful works, mostly in bronze. They also produced some very intricate gilded bronze mantel sets, clocks, lamps, etc.
This lamp came with a shade attributed to Loetz. It has a rather unusual brass fitter. The shade is iridescent and has a reddish glow. It has silver spots on it and clear threads that are pulled up and down irregularly. The interior has an iridescent layer of silver and the shade has 6 ruffles. The dimensions are 4" tall by 4" wide. Because this has the brass fitter, the shade does not have the usual rim. It is cut off and has a clean 1.5" hole.
The ornate stem of the lamp mimics the scales on the trunk of a Palm tree and the arabesque cut outs on the base are very middle eastern. When lit up, the spots produce a brown pattern, possibly to evoke coconuts. In addition to Brussels and Paris, H. Luppens had businesses in Cairo, Egypt and based on this, I believe this lamp was made for that market.
Update: Andy provided me with a photo of a vase in the same unknown decor.
I am not sure who made this shade, but I would agree with your assessment.
Another Winner,.... nice job
I'm not convinced this is a Loetz product. I dont believe its the same as the decor in the photo provided by Andy. The circular elements dont look the same IMHO
Hi Tony, I see that the two sets of spots are different. IMHO the spots on my shade are simply thicker.
The spots on the vase have "broken" and show the threaded texture underneath to poke through. If you look closely at the vase, the darker portions of the spots are not some sort of applied decoration as we often see on tadpoles, they are areas that line up exactly with the underlying threading. Some of the spots on my shade also have this characteristic, but they are much less in frequency.
Now, of course the shade has the added decor element of the silver interior not seen in the vase.
Originally, I know you were skeptical of this shade being Loetz and I agreed with your original assessment. I think the vase was likely done by the same maker. Personally, I think both the shade and the vase are newer reproductions. Also, I have several examples of Loetz in various decors that were produced in PN II-906. The vase that looks similar to your shade does not have the deeply pinched sides that you find in PN II-906 examples. If you go to "Search gallery" on Loetz.com and type in "PN II-906", you should be able to see 10 photos of various Loetz decors produced in this shape.
Thanks for your input Deb! I see what you mean about the PN II-906. The more folks looking for this, the more likely we will turn up an answer regarding this maker.