Henry P. Glass – Lamps
See also: Chairs • Kling Studios • Radios
Glass Biography • Elly & Henry Documentary
Click on image to view larger version | Metalic Arts – Table Lamps Several lamp tissues in the ArchiTech collection were dated February and March 1948 for Metalic Arts and the company may have been a potential client. Though the title block client names had all been misspelled the same way, it’s obvious the “proper” name was spelled correctly. A Metalic Arts Company was listed in an 1893 business directory, the year of Chicago’s first world’s fair and the beginning of a long business downturn. But they seem to have survived at least until 1948 as the job was dated then and marked #237 in the title block. It indicates Glass saw 136 potential clients in the two years since setting up new offices on Lake Shore Drive in early 1946. Most of the lamp designs were kept in the Glass files and eventually sold to the ArchiTech Gallery collection. Henry P. Glass designer A D I |
Click on image to view larger version | Metalic Arts – Table Lamp The exclamation point in Edges Painted! indicates both his salesmanship and his graphic perfectionism as it was important enough to appear within a broken line of the border. And the use of the trade name, Flexwood for the shade design means the word for the wood veneer invented in 1929 was famous enough that its use here would have been recognized by the Metalic Arts Company. Most of the lamp designs were kept in the Glass files and eventually sold to the ArchiTech Gallery collection. Henry P. Glass Designer A D I |
Click on image to view larger version | Floor Lamp Similar to Night Table Lamp in the previous exhibition, this also has his 160 West Burton Place stamp and may have been drawn near the same time. This is a small florescent bulb floor lamp in a biomorphic look in fabric reinforced thermosetting plastic. However, this and the Night Table Lamp demonstrate a more advanced design that would have been too futuristic for the marketplace. Most of the lamp designs were kept in the Glass files and eventually sold to the ArchiTech Gallery collection. Henry P. Glass Designer A D I |
Click on image to view larger version | Continental Lamp #5 Glass added Louis Heubner in 1951 to handle the load but he became a short-lived helper and this 1953 lamp for the Continental Art Co. that ended in 1955 may have marked the ending of the partnership. This mermaid design and its study demonstrate that other talented industrial designers saw the market quite differently from Henry Glass and may have led to the dissolution. Though Glass could also draw the figure, he let Huebner take the lead on this design. There is tellingly no stamped title block saying Glass/Heubner Associates and therefore no client was listed so it may never have been shown. Most of the lamp designs were kept in the Glass files and eventually sold to the ArchiTech Gallery collection. Glass - Heubner Assoc. |
Click on image to view larger version | Continental Lamp #5 study This rough study by Heubner has notations by him that may have been suggestions by Glass. Hands in back at the top and Tail around at rear at right appear to be a more Baroque solution which may have been how Henry Glass saw this design. It was so out of character for the Glass look that he may have decided from this design that it was better for him to go it alone. Most of the lamp designs were kept in the Glass files and eventually sold to the ArchiTech Gallery collection. Glass - Heubner Assoc. |
Click on image to view larger version | Metalic Arts – Floor Lamps There were six design drawings for floor lamps in groups of three in the ArchiTech Gallery collection. All the drawings show an either ceramic or wooden detail and appear to have been suggestions by the company. This was Group VI. A wooden detail in the floor platform or shade support and finial and pull cord fringe seems to be a Glass contribution. But they appear only in these perspectives and not in technical drawings indicating they were never made. Most of the lamp designs were kept in the Glass files and eventually sold to the ArchiTech Gallery collection. Henry P. Glass designer A D I |
Click on image to view larger version | Lamp Studies and Details Because the rapid drawings, enclosing framing and flamboyant lower right signature don’t add up to being either a studio study or presentation rendering, this appears to be an on-site sketch produced in front of the Metalic Arts principals in early 1948. If so, they might have been dazzled at his virtuosity during the meeting. They show studies and details of lamp designs but there’s no evidence any of the lamps were built. Most of the lamp designs were kept in the Glass files and eventually sold to the ArchiTech Gallery collection. Henry P. Glass |