A Perfect Pair: Russel Wright Dining Chairs and Vintage Murano Lamps!

While covering the great industrial and furniture designs of Russel Wright yesterday, we particularly enjoyed a set of dining chairs he designed. Though we normally feature a lounge chair or a credenza for our Perfect Pair series, we think these chairs will work just perfectly with a great pair of Swank Lamps!

Wright’s set of four chairs by for the Conant Ball company in 1935 was part of the "Modernmates Collection" he produced. We really fell in love with the modern and organic feeling these chairs give off. Though the chairs feature a simple shape, the curve of their profile is quite powerful. The upholstery is a fresh and neutral light gray, and the seat is placed on four substantial and blond-colored wood legs. Our favorite parts are the three subtle button tufts in the crease of the seat.

These pulegoso-winged Murano lamps in coke bottle green by A.V.E.M. are rare because you don’t often see vintage Murano glass in this color. The pattern and clarity of the glass is also unique: you can clearly see the tiny trapped air bubbles from the pulegoso process. There aren’t too many air bubbles, though; the glass condition is still a crystal clear. The shape of the lamps features a simple curved form, but also with a subtle swirling. The solid wood bases have been refinished in a gold lacquer and are four inches in height.

We love the combination of these Swank Lighting lamps and the Wright dining chairs. The color of the lamps goes well with the chairs not just because of its complement to the upholstery, but because the color is similar to the sort of color palettes that Wright often used. Both the lamps and the chairs feature simple shapes, but with dynamic outlines and subtle, surprising details. Don’t feel like you would only be able to use the chairs in a dining room; we think they’d make great side chairs in a living room, too. And paired with these Swank vintage Murano lamps they’d be unstoppable!

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A Perfect Pair: Michael Yates' Omikoshi and Joe Cariati Lamps!

Since we profiled the fabulous Dale Chihuly, master glass artist, yesterday we thought for today’s perfect pair we’d go with someone a little more local. Austin woodworker Michael Yates creates gorgeous Japanese-inspired furniture with exquisite detail, known for not using any nails or screws in his work—just great Japanese joinery techniques. We’ve chosen one of his pieces of furniture and paired it with some Swank Lighting lamps!

Yates’ Omikoshi is unique because it’s actually a line of stackable furniture pieces. Shown in these photos are three separate units which can be rearranged based on the owner’s needs. The piece is even offered with a tall stand or a low stand, allowing for any number of configurations. The piece is a great mix of modern and ancient, both having sleek lines and stunning details known in Japanese design. Featuring Yates’ signature style of intricate joinery techniques, you’ll love this piece for as much as it looks as how it’s put together.

We profile Joe Cariati lamps a lot on the blog; we can’t help it—they’re beautiful! This pair of Swank Lighting Joe Cariati contemporary hand blown glass lamps are in the Barovier and Toso style of three stacked balls. Simple yet interesting, we love their height and the fun silhouette they would create against a wall. Our favorite part, though? The color! Available in this soft, subtle mint frost green they’re the perfect way to add a little color, without taking away from other pieces in a room!

Together, Yates’ Omikoshi and Cariati’s contemporary lamps making a smashing couple. The soft hues of the wood of the Omikoshi are complemented perfectly with the equally soft colors of the lamps. The three sections of the Omikoshi are mirrored with the three stacked balls of the lamp! Rather than take away from each other, these pieces really enhance one another’s best features!

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A Perfect Pair: Loewy Chests and Swank Lighting Lamps!

Did you fall in love with Raymond Loewy’s work like we did yesterday? Though more well known for his industrial product design than his furniture, he still did a pretty darn good job creating furniture designs that were cool. We think many of his modern pieces would look fabulous with Swank Lighting lamps, but one piece in particular caught our eye…

This chest of drawers designed by Raymond Loewy is apparently very rare and is called the DF 2000 Chest of Drawers. Made in France in 1965 for the Doubinsky Freres company, these two individual pieces are bright, punchy and exciting. The drawer fronts are made of a custom molded plastic material and feature four different (but equally fabulous) colors. According to 1stdibs, the pieces are “extremely heavy and well made, can be used together or apart or as two bedside dressers.” One of the chests has six drawers and the other three drawers and a door. Glossy, with curved edges and a modern aesthetic, these are cool pieces!

These vintage Swank Lighting Murano table lamps in purple with controlled bubbles are luxurious and dramatic. Featuring a simple shape a little larger on top and slowily getting smaller to the bottom, it’s the deep, rich color of these lamps that really has us going. Not quite a purple, with a lot of red and burgundy in it, these lamps are almost the color of a fresh glass of red wine. On top of a simple Lucite base they are simple yet strong.

Though it might seem unwise to introduce another color to a composition containing all the bright colors as this Loewy double chest of drawers, we think the color on the Swank Lighting Murano lamps is just perfect. A deeper color, but with a lot of red and warmth in it, the color of the lamps is almost an extension of the colors you see in the chests. All the pieces feature soft, curvy edges and shapes, perfectly complementing one another. This would definitely be a bold and daring combination to add to a space, but one we think would be well worth it!

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A Perfect Pair: Wormley and Swank Lighting Ceramic Lamps!

We enjoyed a lot of Edward Wormley’s work that we featured yesterday, but we fell in love with one of his simpler pieces. Though it’s fun to include bright, bold and interestingly shaped furniture in an interior space, it’s equally satisfying to find a piece that, while neutral, makes all of your other furniture and accessories pop.

This 1950's Edward Wormley couch was created for the Dunbar Furniture Company, and features lovely nubby upholstery with a great warm gray color. It’s a long couch, measuring over seven feet, and so gives quite a narrow and elegant appearance. The arms are high and boxy and connect gracefully to the back of the couch with a slightly curved upholstery detail that is unexpected. The couch comes with three plush back cushions, but when removed they expose a simpler button-tufted back, creating an even more sleek appearance. The bottom cushion is all one cushion rather than three, also visual elongating the couch. Finally, all these subtle and great details rest on good-looking mahogany wood legs.

This pair of Swank Lighting Mid Century Ceramic Lamps by Deruta is coming close to topping our favorite lamps of all time list. Imported by Balboa in the 1950's, they were recently uncrated from a shipping container and rebuilt with solid brass hardware. They feature a stunning horizontal striped ceramic pattern of a cerulean blue, rich tan, thin gold edging and all wonderfully glossy. Mounted on a simple Lucite base with a bull nosed edge and coming in at a perfect height of twenty-six inches tall, the lamps are tall, elegant and luxurious.

Combined the Wormley couch and ceramic Swank Lighting lamps are dynamite! The couch’s stately elegance and casual seating are elevated to absolute luxury when combined with the lamps. The gray, blue and tan are a natural color palette that both soothes and excites. The tallness of the lamps complements the long length of the couch perfectly. We even love how the detail of the couch’s back mimics the detail on the neck of the lamp. Both pieces are unapologetically Mid-Century Modern but both with a retro, respected reverence of the past.

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A Perfect Pair: A Panton Phantom Chair and Vintage Murano!

In honor of yesterday’s design influence Verner Panton, we decided to choose a rather colorful combination for today’s perfect pair. Known for his gutsy and bold color palette choices, you might not immediately think about pairing the two colors we’ve chosen today, but know that just about any two colors can make a pretty dynamic pairing when on the right pieces.

Verner Panton’s Phantom Chair is a study in confusion. According to Panton, "sitting should be funny—like playing—an experience". And so he designed his Phantom chair (also known under the name Lupoflex) as more of an experience than just a static piece of furniture. This piece of furniture can be used as a chair, a 2-seater, a bench and a table. It’s also an important piece because it is his last piece of furniture before his death in 1998. Made from blow molded plastic, this chair (or table, bench, whatever) is also made in a vibrant, crimson orange-red color, making it bold and sculptural!

These Swank Lighting Barovier & Toso Two Piece Murano Lamps in Canary Yellow are the absolute definition of elegance. Tall and with an interesting, stacked body shape, the lamps themselves also become sculptural statements. The color is a gorgeous creamy yellow with a subtle oval polka dot pattern. Though a bright yellow, their softer hue makes them a more delicate counterpart to the bright crimson of the Phantom Chair.

Together, the Barovier and Toso Murano Lamps and the Panton Phantom Chair make a sunny combination of color and shape. The fact that they both possess such arresting colors and outlines makes them a dynamic and powerful combination, and would look amazing in a modern or minimalist interior where not many other colors are present. A pair like these two would be a scene-stealing combination, so it would be best to place them in a space where they can be the spotlight.

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A Perfect Pair: Bertoia's Diamond Chair and Amy Grigg's Turned Wood Lamps!

Yesterday we brought you the fresh and modern designs of Mid-Century furniture maker, sculptor and artist Harry Bertoia. We loved the Diamond Chair as much yesterday as we have for years, and thought it was high time we featured it in a Perfect Pair!

We think Bertoia said it the best when he described his Diamond Chair (or any of his grid-like, steel welded furniture) “If you look at these chairs, they are mainly made of air, like sculpture. Space passes right through them." We love the description of a chair made of air, one of our earth’s elements. It makes something otherwise completely industrial looking have a more natural-feel to it. Not that the undulating curve of the back of the chair doesn’t give off a natural feeling itself. Altogether, the piece is a stunning example of furniture standing for something other than just a piece of furniture. It's good-looking, and if you’re worried about the comfort of sitting on a metal grid, know that many upholstered cushions are available for this style chair.

We’ve yet to feature an Amy Grigg hand turned wood lamp in a Perfect Pair yet, and that’s a shame! Her wood lamps are at once nature-inspired and completely Mid-Century Modern-esque. This particular pair is sleek, thin and tall, with a lovely glossy sheen. Made of stacked walnut pieces in a reversed grain pattern, the piece comes with lovely and subtle horizontal stripes. These lamps are also signed by the artist herself.

Though it might seem like we’re trying to pair two completely different styles by suggesting the Diamond Chair and the Amy Grigg turned lamps go together, at closer inspection the two have more in common than not. On the outside, sure, the Diamond Chair is a lot of metal giving off a modern and industrial-feel, but remember that it also represents one of Earth’s elements: air. In the same vein, the Grigg lamps seem sleek and Mid-Century Modern, but they are made of another one of Earth’s elements: wood. Together, these two pieces represent a powerful natural combination---and they look good together to boot!

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