Wonderful Lamp Suggested by D.D.

Robber Baron
Standing Lamp

designers:
Job Smeets
Nynke Tynagel

design year:
2006

manufacturer:
Studio Job, The Netherlands

materials:
polished and patinated cast bronze; glass; electrical components

A patinated bronze floor lamp in which three important icons of architecture - the Parthenon, the Empire State Building and Saint Peter’s Basilica - merge into one. The Zeppelin docked at the pinnacle symbolizes technological failure, and references the Empire State Building, whose top spire was originally intended as a mooring for Zeppelin airships. When illuminated, the hundreds of windows glow, diffused by a hand-blown frosted glass interior. The light bulbs can be changed by lifting the polished bronze ‘cloud’.

Magnificent in scale, exceptionally finely detailed, with precision mechanical movements where required, and incorporating deeply carved iconographic reliefs, these works are guild-like in their master craftsmanship, each taking approximately one year to complete. 

Their mirror finish reflecting the outrageous excesses of America's 19th century tycoons and Russia's new oligarchs, these surreal, highly-expressive furnishings, each a complex composition of multiple visual elements, represent an interior belonging to a powerful industrial leader, or their heirs. With clouds of pollution belching from towering smoke stacks, missiles and falcons and gas masks, warplanes and wrenches adorning golden surfaces, Robber Baron celebrates and shames both Art and Industry. 

The collection will be an edition of five. This piece is No. 4 of 5.