Corn cob table lamp

French table lamp from the 1970s depicting a corn cob, in the spirit of Maison Charles’s naturalistic creations. The highly realistic cob rises from a corolla of gilt-brass leaves on a cream cubic base highlighted with gilt lines. Its wide shade, with a particularly careful finish, has a metallic exterior and a gilded interior, diffusing an especially warm light.

• H 56 cm x W 30 cm x D 20 cm
• Without shade, H up to the socket 41 cm x 10.5 cm x 10.5 cm

This table lamp in the Hollywood Regency spirit belongs to the aesthetic of the 1970s, when vegetal motifs, gilded finishes, and theatrical forms were readily paired with stricter geometric bases. Here, the corn cob becomes a fully sculptural element, heightened by the contrast between the brass, the ivory base, and the metallic shade.

The corn cob, between abundance and glamour

The vegetal repertoire played an important role in the decorative arts of the 1960s and 1970s: flowers, leaves, fruit, and plants were enlarged, stylized, and turned into true elements of domestic architecture. Here, by contrast, the corn retains an almost naturalistic rendering, immediately recognizable.

Beyond a form particularly suited to the vertical design of a lamp, the cob carries strong evocative power. Associated with harvest, fertility, and abundance, corn has long borne a symbolism of growth and renewal. Without needing to assign any specific ritual meaning to this lamp, this dimension contributes to the generous, almost solar character of its décor.

Typical of a certain French taste of the 1970s for naturalistic lighting, this lamp thus plays on a successful opposition between the whimsy of the vegetal motif and the geometric rigor of its base. Its substantial proportions and enveloping light make it particularly suited to a console, an occasional chest, or an end-of-sofa table, where the luminaire is conceived as a decorative element in its own right.

A rigid shade with silver and gold reflections

The shade is particularly well made. Thick and very rigid, it features an exterior metallic surface combining silvery and golden tones, worked with bitumen of Judea to evoke the aged, speckled mirror silvering of an antique mirror. Its construction is visible in the vertical seam at the back, while its fully gilded interior reflects a warm light onto the cob. This deliberately aged finish clearly reinforces the lamp’s Hollywood Regency character, built on the contrast between precious materials, metallic effects, and spectacular décor.