Florence Art 1962 Mid-Century Ceramic Table Lamp — Ribbed Body, Mosaic Band, Paper Shade

The lamp that was doing something in 1962 that most lamps weren't: treating the body as a canvas. Florence Art took a bottle-form silhouette — already a strong shape, that long neck pulling the eye upward — and ran deep vertical ribs from base to crown, then interrupted them at the shoulder with a band of hand-applied tiles in orange, gold, and ivory against a glossy black ground. The result is a lamp that reads as graphic from across the room and as handmade up close, where the scored ridges catch raking light and the checkered mosaic glints. It's a piece that holds its own without the shade on.

The base is incised © 1962 FLORENCE ART — dated, signed, and made of cast plaster, which gives the body real weight and presence on a table. The 3-way socket is original and working. The tapered paper drum shade with black trim trim is included and pairs well with the warm ivory tones in the mosaic band. Florence Art produced decorative lighting and accessories through the 1950s and '60s, often combining incised surfaces with applied enamel or mosaic-style detailing in this manner — decorative, graphic, unambiguously of its decade.

CONDITION

Fair and fully functional. Tested and working with a 3-way switch. Chipping is present throughout the ribbed surface with areas of touch-up paint visible at several points; a stabilized hairline crack runs along the upper body. Shade is intact with light age toning to the paper.

DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS

• Overall Height: 35"
• Maker: Florence Art
• Date: 1962 (signed and dated at base)
• Base Material: Cast plaster
• Shade: Original tapered paper drum with black trim
• Socket: 3-way switch, tested and working
• Campbell's Soup Can (4" H) Shown for Scale — Not Included