Modernist Table Lamp by Eric Kirkham Cole for Elektrosvit

This Modernist table lamp was originally designed in Great Britain in the 1930’s by Eric Kirkham Cole. Cole was the founder and head designer of the British electronic company EKCO that specialised in producing radios, and later TV sets by using new materials like plastic and bakelite.

A Czechoslovakian Lighting Company Elektrosvit Nove Zamky gained an exclusive licence from Cole to make this version of the lamp under type number 11105, and it was in their production from the 1930’s to the late 1940’s.

The lamp base and the lampshade are made of (then very modern) black bakelite, which is connected together by a steel ‘neck’. The lampshade is painted silver on the inside and can be adjusted to different positions by moving the steel rod. The lampshade in particular has got a wonderful organic shape which was typical for Cole’s work in the 30’s - although mainly seen in his design of radios. This shape not only looks attractive and modern some 80 years after it first went into production, but also it’s form maximises the amount of light this table lamp transmits.

This piece is in excellent vintage condition, with some minor natural wear inside the lampshade. There are no chips or cracks on any part of the lamp. All parts are original and fully functional. On the bottom side of the base is a label with a stamp KUNZ Brno, Pravni oddeleni which indicated that this lamp was used in the offices of a Law department in the Czech Ministry of Health in Brno.