The simple act of switching on a lamp in the gallery space can have a radical impact on how we view that lamp as a design object. It also creates a unique ambiance for surrounding artworks. In recent years the NGV’s Conservation department has been given the task of activating the growing lighting collection.
Switching on a lamp clarifies its original design intention: Was it designed to create a soft glow, to illuminate the ceiling, or to spotlight a work area? Our display of Adolf Loos’s early twentieth-century Viennese furniture cannot be disguised as anything but a curated exhibition, however switching on a newly acquired table lamp by Loos from c. 1900 makes it easier to perceive the space as a domestic interior.
Photograph of the apartment of Michael Leiss, designed by Adolf Loos, 1903, showing the same model lamp in the middle.
Electric lighting became widely available from the 1890s due in part to its novel ability to shine light downwards, unlike older technologies such as gas or oil lighting. Electrical advancements also stimulated changes to globe shape and the strength and tone of light, providing greater flexibility to artists and designers.
When preparing the display of an electric lamp in the NGV Collection, we balance the preservation needs of the original wiring with the overriding need for electrical safety, working closely with our staff electricians and curators to present the lamp as close to how it would have looked in its original setting as possible.
The underside of the Table Lamp revealing its early and restored wiring at the time of acquisition.
The Loos lamp is a good example of the challenges we face, with old and new repairs to navigate and fragile, original silk tassels that would continue to degrade with exposure to light. The existing wiring is still able to be used by installing a transformer to isolate and reduce the power to a safe level. While many of the old globe technologies are being phased out of production, fortunately LED technology has given us many and longer-lasting alternatives in the guise of old-style globes.
Decisions about globe choice are also made by examining the history of technological advances; for example, frosted globes were not used prior to the 1920s. The lamp’s display location needs to be considerate of the light falling on nearby artworks to ensure light-sensitive artworks such as watercolours are not affected. In more recent examples of lighting acquisitions, research into contemporary advertising material can reveal which globes the designer had in mind. For example, Clement Meadmore’s Calyx, table lamp is advertised as requiring a regular globe and specific wattage to focus the light in its narrow shade, linking the globe choice to the design of the lamp.
Calyx, table lamp (c. 1953) by Clement Meadmore
A newspaper article about Clement Meadmore’s Calyx lamps, noting the design creates a focused light and uses a 40 watt bulb. Sydney Morning Herald, 2 Sep. 1954, p. 6. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18453136
If we’re fortunate enough, an acquisition may even come with its original packing box, such as the Kempthorne K3650 Filagree, pendant light, giving all sorts of information that would otherwise not be easily found.
K3650 Filagree, pendant light (c.1964) by Kempthorne and Joyce Coffey
Original box showing manufacturing details for K3650 Filagree, pendant light (c.1964) by Kempthorne and Joyce Coffey
The collaborative nature of this research and process, and of course the outcome of presenting a work as the artist or designer intended is one of the most satisfying aspects of our work as conservators at the NGV.
Suzi Shaw is Conservator of Frames and Furniture at NGV.