The Pantop Lamp by Danish artist Verner Panton has a shade shaped like a jolly bell, comes in lipgloss-shiny shades of red, yellow, and blue, and costs $150 at the Museum of Modern Art shop.
By Stephanie Cavanaugh
THERE’S SOMETHING about a lamp on the dining table. It’s the Orient Express. Supper clubs. Bogie and Bacall . . . oh, the romance.
With early fall nights still balmy, and the mosquitoes bedding down for the winter, it’s a pleasant time for dining on the porch or the patio, or in the garden. Candles are swell, but a gust of wind and pfft. Adding a lamp requires a cord snaking across the floor, a fearsome thing after the cognac course. Trust me on that.
I’ve been looking for a cordless lamp for years, but all I’ve found are clunky rechargeables better suited for camping. I even looked into making one…taking a lamp apart and installing a battery. I really don’t think you want to do this (but just in case).
And then, last winter, on the terrace of a south Florida restaurant there they were. Slender metal columns about a foot high, topped with tiny triangular hats from which light pooled on the tablecloths. Not exactly what I was looking for but whimsical, which made them almost better.
Oh my, I said and said again. Gotta have, gotta have.
Lifting the little lamp from the table I read off and wrote down the tag info (thankfully not removed). Italian. Lira signs flashed before my eyes.
From Zafferano comes the Pino Pro rechargeable. It’s shown in Gold Leaf, but there are 11 other colors, at Lumens.com.
And indeed, as I found out, the gold leaf Pina Pro, by Zefferano America, was priced at $300 at the time, a little rich for something I was certain would be dead in a few months* —or become so ubiquitous that it would lose my favor.
Amazon, of course, to the rescue. There I found a knock-off of the little hatted guy—two for $80—and now just $49.99.
And something a tad more classic from Newsee; foot tall lamps with curved caps like mushrooms, which diffuse the light quite nicely, and come in three intensities—warm light, warmer light, and Aunt-Mil-needs-to-be-able-to- read-the-Haggadah bright. I paid $80, but they’re now $36.99 for two and available in seven colors.
What a difference a few months make. There’s an explosion of cordless models in shops and online, high-end to low-priced. You’ve probably already encountered them—that little dunce-cap item seems particularly popular in restaurants.
How does this happen? Did dozens of manufacturers suddenly wake up one morning [see light bulb above heads] and think cordless lamps! Just what we need! But we do.
They’re charming for the patio, or any spot that lacks an outlet and could use a little illumination, now or come winter: coffee tables, end tables, buffets, kitchen counters, bookshelves, mantels.
Take a tour . . .
MoMa: The museum store offers a surprising number of cordless lamps that escape the camping vibe. The Pantop Lamp (see top picture) by Danish artist Verner Panton has a shade shaped like a jolly bell, comes in lipgloss-shiny shades of red, yellow, and blue, and costs $150.
At 1stdibs.com, the Flos Bon Jour from Philippe Starck, sets a roaring ’20s mood. Offered in six colorways and, at $390 per, you won’t see this one coming and going.
Visual Comfort has a traditionally styled crystal (or white or blue) based lamp with a linen shade, the Talia by Julie Neill, for $449 that’s just 13 inches from base to top. Plus it has a dozen or more other rechargeable lamps, mostly modern in style, from $160 on up.
The Pina Pro at Lumens, the original of the triangular hatted lamp I saw months ago in Florida, is now priced at a more reasonable $160 and available in 10 colors.
Walmart has an elegant pair of brass beauties with white linen shades for $59.98. Never thought I’d have Walmart and elegant in the same sentence, but there it is.
*So far so good on the durability. Recharged several times and they’re holding up fine.
Oh, oh, one of my favorite subjects! Can’t have too many….and now you’ve introduced me to some beauts!