Karl Springer (1931-1991) German/American, Lucite Lamp with Original Cord and Finial. Base pieces with holes can be removed, a unique design.
Condition: Commensurate with age.
Size Without Finial: 9 1/2 x 4 x 21 1/2 in.
Size With Finial: 9 1/2 x 4 x 30 in.
Karl Springer was born in 1931 in Bremen, Germany. As a youth he was apprenticed to be a bookbinder, but in his teens the family fled to Berlin for safety as World War II raged on, and over two-thirds of Bremen was destroyed by shelling and bombing. In the aftermath of the war he and his family were trapped on the East side of the city, where he worked whatever odd jobs were available to support them. In the late 1940s he was helping to repair the Berlin State Opera when he met Mateo Lettunich, a cultural affairs adviser with the U.S. State Department. The two became lifelong companions and business associates, and in 1957 when Mateo decided to return to the United States permanently Springer went with him. They settled in New York City, where Springer found work as a window dresser at Lord & Taylor. His work impressed the management and he was given the opportunity to develop his own furniture for the displays, using his bookbinding knowledge to produce telephone tables and picture frames with snakeskin and other modern and exotic materials. Heavily influenced by Art Deco, he transformed his influences into Mid Century Modern marvels which quickly caught the eye of visiting celebrities, dignitaries, and even royalty. The Duchess of Windsor, Wallis Simpson, became his biggest supporter, which allowed him to open his own workshop in 1965. He found particular inspiration in the interior designers Jacques-Émile Ruhlmann and Jean-Michel Frank, with an eclectic blend of influences ranging from the German Bauhaus to the African art of the Ashanti. Within a decade he had opened large showrooms in New York, Miami, Los Angeles, and Tokyo, and his style had become associated with high fashion and the disco movement thanks to the patronage of Diana Ross and Jackie Onassis. In the 1980s, as disco died out, his designs became more austere but remained one-of-a-kind and handmade, with new showrooms in Munich and Chicago to capture additional markets. He frequently utilized Lucite, and in the late 80s revived the materials shagreen (made from the leather of an Asian shark) and chevreau leather (goat leather), which had last been popular in the 1920s and 1930s. He also used lacquered parchment, inlaid wood veneers, rare woods, metals, and granite, which influenced craftsmen all over the world. Tragically, Springer passed away at the age of 60 on December 4th, 1991, after a long fight with AIDS-related lymphoma. His former assistant Mark Eckman acquired the company, Karl Springer Ltd., in 1994, and today his designs are still available through Eckman’s newest company, Matthews & Parker. Springer’s works can be found displayed in museums and colleges around the world, with his original pieces highly sought by collectors.
Commensurate with age.
