Pair of Lamps, 1929, Joseph Urban (American, b. Austria, 1872-1933), designer, Egli & Son (American, active 1920s), attributed manufacturer, glass and brass, Gift of Mrs. Thomas J. Reis, 1973.772, 1973.773

Verbal Description

Hello, my name is Emily Holtrop. I am the director of learning and interpretation at the museum. I will be reading the verbal description for the Pair of Lamps in Unlocking an Art Deco Bedroom by Joseph Urban.

Joseph Urban designed this Pair of Lamps in 1929. He was an American who was born in Austria in 1872. He died in 1933. The attributed manufacturer is Egli & Sons, an American company active in the 1920s. The lamps are glass and brass. They were a gift from Mrs. Thomas J. Reis. Their accession numbers are 1973.772 and 1973.773

The Pair of Lamps are intended for use on a desk or tabletop. They have skinny, angled brass stems that bend out at an obtuse angle. Their triangular, frosted glass shades hug the upper portion of the lamps’ bent stems. The base for each lamp is square black glass. 

Label Copy

Hello, my name is Emily Holtrop. I am the director of learning and interpretation at the museum. I will be reading the label for the Pair of Lamps in Unlocking an Art Deco Bedroom by Joseph Urban.

Joseph Urban designed this Pair of Lamps in 1929. He was an American who was born in Austria in 1872. He died in 1933. The attributed manufacturer is Egli & Sons, an American company active in the 1920s. The lamps are glass and brass. They were a gift from Mrs. Thomas J. Reis. Their accession numbers are 1973.772 and 1973.773

Sharp angles and a dynamic mix of materials and finishes give these lamps a smart, clean, no-nonsense appeal. The lamps’ bases are made from Vitrolite, the same black, reflective, opaque glass used to clad the Wormser bedroom walls. The brass arms and finials pick up other brass and gold accents used throughout the room, and the frosted, conical glass shades soften the glow of the electric light bulbs they house. Urban added a pair of these lamps to Elaine Wormser’s dressing table and another pair to her desk.  

This lamp design appears in other interiors designed by Urban around the same time: Repose, the boudoir that Urban designed for the American Designers’ Gallery exhibition (1928); Urban’s own New York apartment bedroom; and rooms designed by both Urban and his colleague Herman Rosse for the American Designers’ Gallery exhibition in 1929. 

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