This early table lamp design by Paavo Tynell is well recognized and considered by many as the pivotal point at which a shift in his designs started appearing. It was one of the first designs that had perforations / slits and adjustability in shade direction. A feature that became almost a signature in his later designs.
This slotted visor reflector moves up or down, to put the light where it's needed.
This wonderful piece is stamped with Taito, Idman and the model number 9227, narrowing the year of origin for this lamp to just a few years in the early 1950s, during the merging of those companies.
An exquisite example of a beautiful classic design with features that makes it suitable for a wide range of spaces especially offices, home offices or reading and working tables.
The trend recently has been to repaint these models in different colors, which is an easy task, and that´s why we choose to not do so, to let the consumer/end user decide on what color they prefers best :)
Paavo Tynell (1890–1973) was a Finnish designer who is well renowned around the world for his incredible lighting fixtures and lamps. Tynell is known as the man who “illuminated Finland” and his works can be found in numerous public offices and buildings such as the Finnish Parliament House and the office of Secretary-General of the United Nations in New York.
Tynell started as a sheet metal worker´s apprentice at G.W.Sohlbergs workshop in 1906. After that he moved to Taidetakomo Koru Oy in 1912, which was a metal workshop specializing in electric light fixtures. Then Paavo studied at the Central School of Applied Arts in Helsinki and after that he taught in it too. Paavo then founded Taito Oy in 1918 with a number of colleagues. Taito produced a number of other items other than just light fixtures in the early years, however the main focus became lamps after Finland adopted the use of electricity. By the 1930s Finnish households started buying light fixtures as the use of electricity became more common. In the 1920s Taito`s main sales were still mostly public commissions, for example the Paimio Sanatorium which was designed by Alvar aalto.
After WW2 and the quite challenging shortage years in Finland, Tynell finally had his major breakthrough. His style became quite distinctive and was mainly aimed at the U.S. markets. He sold both catalogue lamps as well as commissioned works through Finland House in N.Y. Although his late 1940s-1950s style was widely criticized at first in Finland, he stuck to it, and luckily so. It wasn´t long before his lamp fixtures became Finland House´s best selling product. Nowadays Tynells high end lamps fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars worldwide, and deservingly so. His commisioned lamps number in the thousands, and unfortunately not all documents or archive materials are intact
