Floor Lamp
Decorative Arts and Design
The designer of this rare and exotic kerosene lamp, Pierre Emmanuel Guerin, was one of the most important manufacturers of finely wrought metal furniture mounts for the most prestigious cabinetmakers of the nineteenth century: Herter Brothers, Pottier & Stymus, Léon Marcotte, and Kimbel & Cabus. The foundry, still family owned, is on Jane Street in Greenwich Village. By 1880, in an attempt to diversify his business, Guerin had begun to design and manufacture "artistic bronzes" and brass goods such as vases, clock cases, and lamps. The shaft of the lamp is a highly imaginative, menacing, eagle-like bird with an out-of-scale claw as the base. The sophistIcated design evoking ancient mythology is characteristIc of fantastical objects made in the Aesthetic Movement style of the last quarter of the nineteenth century. The jewel-like colored shade and the highly polished brass of the lamp would have had a striking effect when illuminated in a densely furnished and patterned parlor of the period.
MEDIUM
Brass, glass, iron
DATES
Patented April 13, 1886
DIMENSIONS
51 1/4 x 11 x 13 in. (130.2 x 27.9 x 33 cm)
(show scale)
MARKINGS
Molded on burner knobs: "P / DUPLEX / A"
Impressed on proper left underside of thumb-talon of bird's foot: "PATENT / APRIL 13, 1886"
Impressed on side of proper right talon: "PAT.APPLIED.FOR."
Impressed on underside of base: "P.E.GUERIN" at tips of two talons; "P.E.GUERIN / NY" twice between claws.
On metal plate affixed to under side of base, impressed: "P.E.G." and "537"
ACCESSION NUMBER
2004.32a-c
CREDIT LINE
Gift of Mrs. Clifford D. Mallory in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Rogers Mallory, by exchange
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Brass floor lamp with glass kerosene reservoir, shade, and chimney. (a) Lamp stand is in the form of a stylized bird of prey standing on a single elongated, scaly leg; an oversized foot with talons forms the base. Attached to the bird's crown is a squat, spherical kerosene reservoir of amber hobnail glass. A circular coronet-style burner screws into the neck ring of the reservoir. (b) Blue hobnail glass shade sits atop the stand; bowl-shaped form flares out to scalloped rim. (c) Colorless glass baluster-shaped chimney fits into cylindrical holder around burner and within blue shade.
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Pierre Emmanuel Guerin (American, born France, 1833â1911). Floor Lamp, Patented April 13, 1886. Brass, glass, iron, 51 1/4 x 11 x 13 in. (130.2 x 27.9 x 33 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mrs. Clifford D. Mallory in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Rogers Mallory, by exchange, 2004.32a-c. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2004.32a-c_bw.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 2004.32a-c_bw.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
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