Lot 466
ATTRIBUTED TO PETER NELSON (BRITISH 1928-2009)
PROTOTYPE TABLE LAMP
Auction: Day Two | Lots 100 to 527 | Fri 31 October from 10am
Description
aluminium and enamelled metal
Dimensions
31cm high, 23cm wide, 21cm deep (12 ¼in high, 9in wide, 8 ¼in deep)
Provenance
Anderson & Garland, Newcastle, 7 September 2010, where acquired by the present owner;
Private Collection, London.
Footnote
Peter Nelson (1928–2009) began his career in the 1950s designing and manufacturing cast aluminium passenger aircraft models. His precision workmanship and high-quality finish quickly gained him commissions from leading airlines including BOAC, Canadian Pacific and TWA.
In 1961, Nelson founded Architectural Lighting, a company dedicated to his growing interest in lighting design and engineering. Over the following decades he produced a wide range of fixtures—table, wall, ceiling and floor models—executed primarily in aluminium, his favoured material. His work was noted for its technical quality, durability and functional adaptability.
By the mid-1960s, Nelson’s lighting had entered the mainstream of British modern design, retailed by respected outlets such as Habitat and Heal’s. Although manufactured in relatively modest numbers, his designs became associated with the emerging minimalist interiors of the period and today are regarded as an important contribution to post-war British industrial design.
The present work was acquired from Anderson & Garland, who over an extended period have sold numerous examples of Nelson’s lighting, and the present work, was sold in September 2010 from the designer’s estate as part of the the Nelson archive.