Featured Mystery woman torchiere candelabra style lamp

How did you narrow its manufacture down from 1889 to 1960?

Debora

 

Think we have been considering whether the lamp was made in France, not whether the lady holding the lamp is meant to be French. She is clearly meant to be 'exotic', also a bit sexy. There is no reason to believe she is ethnographically accurate rather than an artistic fantasy figure out of the mysterious East.

The image on this glass intaglio is known as 'the Fair Circassian.' I doubt very much the artist ever saw a Circassian woman.

 

If I tell you I always read Circassian as Cardassian.....

 

Hey we all could be out to lunch, but I have researched the French avenue and everything with her metal candelabra torchiere says it's more eastern Europe like Italy or Greece is all. I know 100 she is not marianne or a representation of some famous French woman as many have tried to force me to believe. She is missing to many key features to be of French style or origin as I learned from a French historian in Canada who studies French history of the arts. He may be wrong as well but his education speaks for itself.
I wish someone out there recognized its from somewhere.

 

Based off of what a local researcher judged by paint to electrical to wood working style. As well it being made out of solid European Oak. They also said they have never seen this style in lamp form in this country.

As I keep saying I don't know anything for sure but everything is plausible till fully proven wrong.

 

It was rewired from European standard electric to American electric when it came over. I have a friend who is an electrician looking into the date of plug and switch for me.
100% the lamp was not made in North America.

 

So, flats, it IS!!

 

Yes sadly the shoes I guess could be from many eras as I learned from a researcher. We need to focus on the head piece and the rest of her clothes as I'm sure it's of a country and Era we don't talk about as much as others cultures.

 

When did Italy move to Eastern Europe?

Why are you so certain the figure accurately represents women's dress of any particular place at any particular time? Daily wear for ordinary women does not usually feature plunging necklines & slit skirts. That's a male fantasy.

Once you provided us with a photo that showed us how the headdress really looks, I think we were all ready to abandon the idea of Marianne.

It would have been nice if you had provided the info you already have up front instead of leaving us to start from scratch.

Personally I find the figure & the candelabra she holds a very strange combination. Is there any possibility they did not start out together?

 

Im not sure why you are certain the paint is original ? Id bet money the face has been touched up . The iron work itself reminds me of 1920s,so Im guessing the whole thing is. Inside the bottom that sure looks like newer wood at the top part? I wonder if it could have been a baluster lamp,maybe in a public building like a theater .

 

1000% mine is not a repaint, but I had someone online found the closest maybe 3rd cousin lamp. The hat is exact same.

 

I had an expert look at paint. I am a artist myself and have had some experts look over. She is 1000x not a repaint.

 

She reminds me of Joan Crawford.

 

It's a lot more than the hat.

More like the mother. The 'blackamoor' lamp almost certainly predates yours.

No, although that may be her original paint, you might say she is the whitewashing of a figure that was once common but that became unacceptable, the Nubian/blackamoor servant.

 

This is interesting, possibly relevant:

https://bersoantik.com/en/catalog/article/52_8076/

"Wonderful rare antique paired floor lamps "Nubians" in the style of Louis XIV. Resin. Were owned by one large hotel. Paris, 1970s" [emphasis mine]

 

I have someone who deals with blackamoor in my email atm and he is saying it is not of moorish woman this may have been a protest piece made as they said they said iss the wrong features in the face to be a moorish woman and as it is wood carved it is 100% original state no touch ups. I am going to reach out to antique person in Spain or close to where this type of art is more common.

 

[I started this over an hour ago, then never hit send]

On the other hand, these are described as gessoed wood, Venetian:

https://www.antiques-atlas.com/antique/pair_of_venetian_blackamoor_candelabra/as284a2914

 

I'm not saying she is Moorish either. But when you compare your whole figure with her 'third cousin', don't you see that the pose & the clothes, other than color, are virtually identical? Do you really think they are not closely related? If these are hand carved, variations are to be expected. Presumably yours was made later, when blackamoors as decorative items were no longer socially acceptable.

There are 2 questions that seem to keep being muddled here:

• Where was the lamp made?
• What nationality/ethnicity does the figure represent.

I'm leaning toward Italy & nowhere in particular. Zingara.

 

Well we are agreeing and your seeing it as disagreeing. But as I said I need to find someone who has expertise in lamps of this style. I'm sure someone out in this large world is waiting for a lamp like this to pop up. I collect weird items and this by far is largest and weirdest as I said with original paint and aging of paint makes it much older then the re wiring of the plug.

I truly believe if I find the artist of this blackamoor style lamp I will find a origin because yes everything but the face and lamp is the same and mind blowing and I agree with you 100% but as I said above I'm hoping someone out there sees one of my posts and just knows what I have. ‍♀️