Large Wrought Iron and Silk Table Lamp by Wanner & Co Geneva

This rare table lamp of Swiss origin, from the 1920s, in wrought iron (signed on its base), with gold highlights at the base and on the upper edge (H. 54 cm). The lampshade is in buttercup yellow silk - from the French publisher and manufacturer Veraseta - hand-sewn using the traditional technique: identical restoration of the original model, with conservation of the fringes of the trimmings. origin. This is a very fine example of the creations of the former Wanner house in Geneva. Here is some information that can be found gathered in the excellent work “Decor, design and industry; Applied Arts in Geneva”, an essential collective writing, carried out under the direction of Alexandre Fiette, curator in charge of the decorative arts collections at the Geneva Museum of Art and History (Publisher: Somogy, 2010).

Initally, in 1850, the Wanner company was a building locksmith workshop. The two sons, Louis and Félix Wanner, took over the family business in 1889. “The company's activity was then mainly concentrated around two commercial centers. The first was reserved for artistic ironwork and enjoyed rapid success, notably thanks to the involvement of Charles Muller, designer and former engraver. The workshop produces pendant lights, chandeliers, floor lamps, andirons as well as various small objects related to interior decoration. Louis Wanner, for his part, focused on the construction of greenhouses with metal frames (…)”, which would ensure the company great success in the field of architecture. With more than a hundred employees, at the beginning of the 20th century, the Wanner company was notably rewarded with a grand prize at the Swiss national exhibition in Berne in 1914. The artistic aspect of the Wanner company's production can also be explained, from 1919, by the latter's participation in the Œuvre, a French-speaking association created in 1913 to promote applied arts and encourage collaborations between artists and industrialists. Through its involvement in the association, the company had the opportunity in 1925 to present two torchières at the International Exhibition of Decorative Arts in Paris. A base lamp inspired by the Far East won an award. That same year, the Genevan artists who were members of the Work presented some of their creations at the Rath Museum. A floor lamp was integrated into the decor of the many interiors of the Clarté building by Le Corbusier, of which the Wanner brothers had executed all the metal frames (this iconic project of modern architecture was built in 1930 in Geneva, in the same district of the Earthworks where the company Wanner Frères had established their workshops). Using new materials such as stainless steel, Wanner also obtained numerous contracts for public monuments throughout Switzerland, as well as abroad. The company ceased its activity in 1965.
The quality of the design of this beautiful art-deco desk lamp with the refined rigor of its slender line, the elegant discretion of its iron cutouts and its geometric patterns, could very well be linked to certain models of international metal lighting from the same period, such as those designed by American designer Gustav Stickley, (1858-1942), the main importer of the English Arts & Crafts movement in the United States.