Description
American Art deco machine age normandy bronze plated wrought brass & steel "cobra" table or desk lamp commonly misattributed to Norman Bel Geddes, who is perhaps best known for designing the "futurama" exhibit in the GM Pavilion at the 1939 New York world's fair. The lamp exhibits a vague resemblance to a standing cobra found primarily in the tapered & angled back arm attached to the large circular shade or reflector. The table lamp was manufactured by the faries manufacturing co., Decatur, IL during the 1930's. The original bronze finish remains largely intact with nicely aged patina. This particular lamp does (not shown) contain the removable bulb reflector used to control the angle of the lighting. The green felt pad on the bottom is intact. The Art deco lamp has been rewired. Excellent working condition. The actual patented design, prior to any modifications, (i.e., pen holder), was assigned to the highly regarded industrial designer Jean Otis Reinecke (1909-1987) of Oak Park, IL. Jean Reinecke began his career as a display artist at general display studios in st. louis, designer of automated convention & worlds fair displays, & soon became a partner & art director there. Reinecke opened an office in Chicago in 1930 to work on the Chicago century of progress (1933-1934) for general display. in 1934 he established the industrial design & engineering firm of Barnes & Reinecke in partnership with James Barnes. Reinecke provided the design talent & barnes was in charge of sales. By 1938 Barnes & Reinecke had a staff including David Painter (1913-2003), vice-president in charge of design, James Teague, Fred Priess & George Mendenhall. Reinecke also served as a part-time instructor at the new bauhaus in Chicago, which later evolved into Illinois institute of technology (iit). The Mcgraw electric company introduced the toastmaster model 1b9 in 1939, designed by Reinecke & his staff at Barnes & Reinecke. It was the first to exploit the curvature of chrome-plated shells on toasters, increased sales dramatically, was widely imitated, & served as the typeform for toasters well into the 1960's. One of Reinecke's designers, Fred Priess, designed the linear decoration that became the company's symbol. in 1939, James F. Barnes & Jean O. Reinecke patented an updated version of hamilton beach's classic soda fountain drinkmaster. 3m in 1940 introduced a heavy cast metal desk-top tape dispenser in gray by reinecke, which replaced his first design for 3m in 1938, & which he re-designed again in 1953. reinecke also re-designed a disposable plastic scotch tape dispenser design that became one of the most successful & enduring examples of 20th century design. it is an ingenious refinement of one he designed in 1939 of stamped sheet metal. both were still in production in 1998. by 1948 barnes & reinecke had a staff of 375 & a shop of 50 machinists who produced special purpose equipment for automation. reinecke sold his interest in the partnership & established his
