The Italian lamp

[eleny]

It's 36' to the top of the finial and about 20" to the top of the orange enamel band. The tree designs are also in the back.

What I'm concerned about is cleaning the area with the designs. It looks too porous for liquid cleaners. So I'll try gently brushing it and vacuuming off any dust & dirt that comes off.

Not the biggest "wow" but it gnawed at me and I'm glad I went back for it. I think I'll remake an old shade if I can find one in the right size and shape.

[grasswire]

1. orange -- big color in mid-modern!

But I'm sure you know that.

[eleny]

2. Oh yeah - But it looks later than 40s-50s to me

It feels kind of like 60s-70s from my memory of the era. It doesn't fit my decor even though we're totally eclectic. But I might be able to use it in my breakfast nook in a far corner. It might just draw the eye back there and brighten things up. It's a forgotten part of the house but nice with a wooden garden window. So this might not be a mistake after all.

[sandnsea]

3. It's a tough call

That orange would seem to date it to the 70's, I'm trying to remember if there were pottery pieces like that. The lamp base itself, could be right out of that mid-fifties eames modern style. Does the cord help you to decide at all? It's really pretty. I take a paint brush and a light oxy/water mix and just lightly brush stuff like that. Then I damp sponge it with white vinegar to neutralized the oxy. It seems to work pretty well. I don't do that with anything cold painted though.

[eleny]

4. "cold painted"

Does that mean it's not fired after the painting? And what is "oxy"? is it Oxyclean?

The thing that concerned me about the base is that there seems to be dabs of color on the buildings and trees. I see white, brown and rust. But I don't have the knowledge to tell if it was dabbed on later or when the base was fired. I could try a small spot. I need to get some Oxyclean to wash the vintage tablecloths.

[sandnsea]

5. Right

To both. Those apple jars I've got are cold painted and boy are they sensitive to the slightest touch. Yes, Oxyclean. A light mixture cleans ceramics up really nice. I used it on some embroidered items and it worked great there too. I've got a crocheted doily that isn't coming so clean though. I might have to do the lemon, salt and sun thing with it - now that I finally have some sun. You could just scrape a small spot, like with a toothpick, and see what's under it.

I've got to figure out how to get paint off a rubber doll head. It doesn't match. I can understand making one mistake, but the person dabbed about 15 spots with the wrong color paint. :crazy:

[eleny]

6. Oxyclean is great stuff

I'll scrape the lamp with a toothpick and see if the color comes off. I don't think it's all that dirty. So maybe I can forgo washing it down.

Oh, so the apples are cold painted. I've seen ones like that in person and they're unique.

Paint off rubber. Jeez. I don't remember them being painted. When I was little I had rubber dolls but they seemed to have the color in the material or like a wash. At least that's how they appeared. So painting on top of the rubber would look out of place no matter what.

[Duer 157099]

7. I think it's great! I guess I'm the only one who likes the orange?

Whatever you do, don't remove the orange -- cover it up if you must, get a long shade, whatever, but that orange part is very important to the design, imho.

I'm glad you went back to get it!! :thumbsup:

What is the orange, anyway - I mean, is it glaze, or paint, or ?

[eleny]

8. Over time, I'm liking the orange, too

I think I had enough orange during the 70s to last a lifetime. But on this lamp, I'm softening.

It looks like enamel. I've decided to leave it alone since covering it might mute the shine. I'll find a shade to fit as it's meant to - letting the orange show.

Thanks, I'm glad I went back, too.

[eleny]

9. P.S. Here's a craft blog you might enjoy ;-)

http://howaboutorange.blogspot.com/">How about orange...

[Duer 157099]

10. Heh -- that's funny

Although I'm not an orange fanatic by any stretch - in fact, I also was saturated with it while growing up. But it's just seeping into my consciousness again, probably because I'm so immersed in mid century design right now. I only have 1 orange (significant sized) thing in my house. Maybe that's why I've been softening on it - it's a bedspread that I got purely for utilitarian reasons, but now I've come to really love the bold pattern and color.

That lamp looks like a thermos you know.

I think it's very cool, and I've never seen one like it

[eleny]

11. Now that you point it out - it does look like a thermos

I enjoy that orange blog. Ran across it by chance and kept it in my list of upbeat craft blogs. I visit when I need a lift.

So, today hubby and I were in the garage after power washing stuff I found earlier. He walked past the lamp and asked me what it was. As if! Then he got around to the dreaded "What are you going to do with it?". When I told him I was going to rewire it and asked him about the plug, he changed the subject. 'Tween you and me I think he felt the magnetic pull of being sucked into the project and decided to fuggetaboudit.

Did you manage to get the table out of your car?

[Duer 157099]

12. LOL, you should have just told him it was a thermos!

Just to see his reaction, you know.

Nope, table is still there. I'm learning to live with it.

You know, sometimes a car is just like a big closet :rofl:

[sufrommich]

13. Is it marked "Italy" on the lamp?

It looks like some Raymor lamps from the 60s.

[eleny]

14. On the bottom....

It says "Base Made Italy" in what appears to be hand printed text. There's a metal disk on the bottom that would come off if it needed to be rewired. And that disk looks like it might be covering a number.

I'm checking out image of Raymor lamps and see some of the column shapes. So many of the Raymor lamps are gorgeous.

[sufrommich]

15. Try checking out "Aldo Londi" and "Bitossi" too.

You never know, you may have a treasure there. Whatever it is, it's striking.

[eleny]

16. Thanks so much

I know nothing about this area and it's great to find direction from you right here at DU.

I'm off to do some Googling. I like lamps!

[Duer 157099]

17. You might also use "Pisa" and "tower" in search terms

Does it lean ever so slightly to one side? :D

With Italian pottery marks, is there any standard interpretation of numbers like **/*** - where the * are numbers - does anyone know?

I see so many things just marked "Italy" and then numbers in that format