Design 
10 December 2021
Design 
399

Lester Geis

T-5-G table lamp

Heifetz Manufacturing Co.
USA, 1951
enameled aluminum, enameled steel 23 h × 15 w × 11 d in (58 × 38 × 28 cm)
estimate: $7,000–9,000
result: $6,875
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This lamp model was given an honorable mention at the Museum of Modern Art's low-cost lighting competition New Lamps in 1951. Each section of the shade, one gray, one yellow, moves independently, allowing simultaneous light.
provenance: Private Collection, New York
literature: Arts and Architecture, May 1951, unpaginated

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Lamp Design Competition

In 1950, The Museum of Modern Art sponsored a lighting design competition to foster modernist design and extend its reach in American society. In a unique collaboration with a commercial producer, Heifetz company of New York agreed to manufacture the chosen lamps. More that 600 designers participated in the contest and nearly 3000 lighting designs were reviewed by the jury of critcal design thinkers including Marcel Breuer and Philip C. Johnson. Of the sumbissions, only ten lamps were selected. The award-winning designs were exhibited at the MoMA, New York in 1951 and resulted in the best American lighting of the mid-century era. 

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