Gherpe Lamp by Superstudio, Italy for Poltronova

Gherpe Floor or Table mood lamp, 1968 by Superstudio (Italy) / Poltronova.

Dimensions:

Height: 15 in.
Width: 21 in.
Depth: 13 in.

Animal-like & changeable in shape, thanks to its "scales" that revolve around a central pivot / laser-cut & heat-formed metacrylate in white or fluorescent pinkish-red, chrome-plated brass fittings & incandescent lamp (60 watt).

Here is a lamp that interprets the classical form of the Nautilus shell with cartoon-like ambiguity. The designers' intotion was to in tene a provokec reaction, and destabilize preconceived notions or expectations of objects normally found in the home.

Cristiano Toraldo di Francia (one of Superstudio's ringleaders) recalls "perhaps influenced by my keen interest in marine biology, one summer morning in 1967 I dreamt of a shape half animal, half artificial. Once in my studio I immediately set to work, and built a model with several progressively lengthening strips of colored sheets [of plastic] fastened across a wooden block with a single screw".

Both the lamp as well as the effect of the light can be changed by rotating its six moveable "leaves" around a central pivot. It can produce simple white light or an atmospheric, colored glow.