RARE HARRY BALMER (AMERICAN, 20TH C) for LAUREL LAMP COMPANY, NEWARK, NJ, MID-20TH CENTURY BRUTALIST VINTAGE MONUMENTAL, TORCHED, WELDED, CUT STEEL
LARGE (46" in HEIGHT,) SCULPTURAL
METAL TABLE LAMP, with ORIGINAL ELECTRICAL ASSEMBLY, BULB SOCKET, CORD, PLUG, WHITE ENAMEL PAINTED, ATTACHED HARP & BLACK ENAMEL PAINTED FINIAL
[Shade not included with table lamp base]
(Circa 1958-1964)
Mid-20th century American vintage Brutalist welded and torched steel monumental metal sculpture, table lamp bases and decorative art
DIMENSIONS:
46" Overall height x 25" Sculpture height(w/o the finial & harp) x 15 1⁄2 " Widest point x 12 1⁄2" Depth
x 8 1⁄2" Square base, 93 1⁄2" Electrical cord length
Weight: 21 lbs.
DIMENSIONS:
46" overall Height x 25" sculpture Height (without the finial and harp) x 15 1⁄2" Widest point x 12 1⁄2" Depth
x 8 1⁄2" square Base, 93 1⁄2" electrical cord Length
Weight: 21 lbs.
DESCRIPTION:
100% original and absolutely untouched. This huge, monumental Brutalist welded and torched steel plate sculptural table lamp by the venerable and well-known American Modernist metal sculptor Harry Balmer, is a celebration of the tenets of Brutalist conceptual artistic endeavor, with a distinct and heavy emphasis on the plasticity and presence of hand-manipulated material, becoming front and center and absolutely essential, in its transmission of human experience and artistic intention. The table lamp was recently discovered in a finely appointed estate in southern New Hampshire and hasn't been cleaned with any chemicals, solvents or oil. It was only gently dusted with a fine red sable brush to remove years of built-up dust, cobwebs and fine silt covering its surfaces. It's in working condition, with its entire original electrical assembly intact and original to the table lamp. The steel plates are aggressively cut with a high-powered torch into arching half-spheres, that attach themselves to a central stem, forming asymmetrical, rhythmic ascending forms that echo each other in different, arranged stations. It sits on a two-tiered copper and steel pyramid base. Outstanding surfaces and form. Killer. For those who prefer their antiques to be untouched and not messed around with, I can assure you, with white ceiling specks of paint and all, this Harry Balmer Brutalist vintage torched and welded monumental sculptural table lamp is absolutely untouched and just the way it was found in the southern New Hampshire estate, where it was removed from. An outstanding mid-20th century Modernist artifact and a tremendous example of high Brutalist abstract, welded and torched metal sculpture, in the form of a monumental table lamp. It will do many things except disappoint. The way antiques should be, from the estate where they are found to you the buyer, with no remedies, interventions, repairs, additions or subtractions. Superlative in every way. To die for (well, possibly.)
CONDITION:
Good to Very Good overall vintage condition. The sculpture spins freely on its square, 2-tier copper and steel metal base, so you can select the best show side angle, as to how would you like to display it. To secure it in the desired position, all that's needed is to tighten the stem bolt washer found underneath the base in the center.
