{"product_id":"vintage-cream-painted-baluster-column-table-lamp-c-1950-1975","title":"Vintage Cream Painted Baluster Column Table Lamp, c. 1950–1975","description":"\u003ch3\u003eThe Piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eA table lamp built as a classical baluster column and finished in cream with a dark glaze worked into every recess, so the profile reads as shadow and highlight rather than as a flat painted shape.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe column runs through five distinct movements. It starts on a stepped round plinth, opens into a spreading foot cut with long lobed petals, gathers into a rope twist collar, swells into a ribbed melon sphere, passes through a second rope twist collar, and finishes in a tall tulip cup of upright petals that carries the socket.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe finish is the reason it works. Cream over a dark ground, with the dark left standing in the flutes, the rope twists and the petal joins, and rubbed back on the high points where a hand would fall. It is a decorator finish, applied to make new work read as old, and it has since acquired genuine wear of its own.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe finial matches and is original to the lamp: a small classical urn with acanthus leaves rising around its waist, in the same cream and dark scheme, seated on a clear glass washer above the shade.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe shade is a cream linen bell on a three arm spider fitter, and the socket and harp are brass.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eHistory \u0026amp; Provenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere is no maker mark, label or foil sticker anywhere on the lamp, so nothing is attributed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe material beneath the paint has not been established and is not claimed. The forms are crisp and repeat cleanly, and the finial carries a vertical parting seam from a two part mould, which means at least that element was cast rather than carved. The column may be turned wood with applied ornament, or moulded composition, or both, and the only way to know is to look where the paint has failed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhat can be said is what the lamp is. Cream over dark antiquing on a classical baluster is the vocabulary of American and Continental decorator lighting of the post war decades, the trade that supplied furniture showrooms and interior designers rather than lighting manufacturers working in metal or glass. The finish was the product as much as the form.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe dating follows from that, together with the brass socket, the harp and spider fitted shade, and the moulded finial. The absence of a mark sets no boundary of its own and nothing has been inferred from it. A socket stamp or a surviving showroom label would narrow the range.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eProduct Details\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ctable\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eEra\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ec. 1950–1975. Dated on finish and fittings rather than on form, since the classical baluster was reproduced continuously. Cream over dark antiquing on a moulded classical column is post war decorator lighting, and the brass socket, harp and spider fitted shade belong to the same window, which is the floor. The finial carries a two part mould seam, confirming cast rather than carved construction for that element. No maker mark, label or country of origin survives and nothing has been read into its absence\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eForm\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eClassical baluster column: stepped plinth, lobed spreading foot, rope twist collar, ribbed melon sphere, second collar, tulip petal capital\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eFinish\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eCream over a dark ground with the dark left in the flutes, rope twists and petal joins, rubbed back on the high points\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eMaterial\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eNot established. Turned or moulded beneath the paint, with a cast finial\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eShade and finial\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eCream linen bell shade on a three arm spider fitter, with the original matching cream and dark classical urn finial on a clear glass washer\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eWiring\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eSingle brass socket with harp. Not rewired. Have it checked by an electrician before use\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eMarks\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eNone found on the base, the column or the socket\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eDimensions\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eApproximately 29 in. high overall to the finial by 14 in. across the shade\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eCondition\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eGood honest condition with the original finish unrestored. Cream worn thin on the high points and the foot edges with small losses to the plinth showing the dark ground beneath, consistent with use. Ornament crisp and complete throughout. Finial sound with a visible mould seam, original to the making. Shade clean with light toning and no tears. Stands square\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/tbody\u003e\u003c\/table\u003e\u003ch3\u003eWhy It Belongs in Your Home\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eA cream lamp is the easiest thing in the world to place and the hardest thing to make interesting. This one solves that with the dark glaze, which puts a line into every flute and turn so the column still reads across a room instead of dissolving into the wall behind it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt sits comfortably on a console, a bedside table or a chest, and it will work against painted furniture, walnut, brass and almost any wall colour, because a warm cream is closer to a neutral than to a colour.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe finial deserves a word of its own. Most vintage lamps arrive wearing whatever finial someone had in a drawer. This one still has the urn it was made with, and it matters more to how the lamp looks than its size suggests.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Viridian Eclection","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67556947034217,"sku":"VE-1748","price":1050.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0651\/0093\/9369\/files\/01_c19c0fa7-d0f5-4ce2-bbb4-c34d1c8c45d9.jpg?v=1790577566","url":"https:\/\/viridianeclection.com\/products\/vintage-cream-painted-baluster-column-table-lamp-c-1950-1975","provider":"Viridian Eclection","version":"1.0","type":"link"}