Table Lamp

Walter Von NessenWW-1930-143276

1930·Silver-plated brass, glass, and ebony·52.1 × 35.6 × 48.3 cm (20 1/2 × 14 × 19 in.)

<p>Meant to accompany a series of tables that Walter von Nessen created around 1930, this streamlined lamp illustrates America’s shift to a modern aesthetic during the 1930s. Von Nessen championed the use of metal as an appropriate material to capture the look and spirit of the modern age. The object’s sleek lines convey standardized manufacturing, and its exposed hardware is characteristic of industrial fabrication. The lamp’s silver finish and added vertical strip of ebony give it a sumptuous quality.</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1930
Medium: Silver-plated brass, glass, and ebony
Dimensions: 52.1 × 35.6 × 48.3 cm (20 1/2 × 14 × 19 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Walter Von Nessen

Artist

Walter Von Nessen

Walter von Nessen was an American designer and metalworker known for modernist lighting and decorative objects in brass, chrome, and steel. Active in the 1920s and 1930s, he developed a signature approach to functional form that merged Bauhaus principles with American industrial production. His table lamps and sculptural vessels combined geometric severity with handcrafted refinement, establishing a model for designer-craftsman practice in the interwar period. Von Nessen's work bridged European modernism and American manufacture during a formative moment in twentieth-century design.

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