This is an exceptional quality period French lamp with a strong presence on a sideboard or hall table. The squat, gourd-shaped porcelain body is glazed in a deep raspberry-magenta. On the front is a hand-painted medallion of a classical maiden in profile, her hair braided and crowned with roses. The portrait sits on a burnished gold ground inside a black border, with tiny raised enamel “jewels” around the frame. The reverse has a musical trophy: a mandolin, open sheet music, a tambourine, a blue ribbon and a rose trellis, all on the same gold ground. Gilt ivy scrolls and painted blossoms wrap around the body, and a tall black neck rises from it, banded in gold with a Greek key frieze.
The mounts carry the musical theme through the whole piece. The two handles are cast as stringed instruments, with pegboxes, fretted necks and rosette sound-holes that curl down to the shoulders. A gilt crown-shaped collar sits at the top. The circular base stands on four splayed feet decorated with palmettes and anthemion.
72cm tall
Available at La La Vintage 67 Semaphore Road, Semaphore SA 5019 (Next to Odeon Cinema)
