Memory Game

Sometimes when you zoom in on a particular time period in design, like oh, say, Art Deco and Art Moderne lighting, and really focus on it, you start seeing connections, or echoes of similar styles. I had one of those fun 'ah ha' moments last night while trolling through my local Craigslist furniture section.

I ran across this listing with these cool white sconces:

I knew that I had just seen those sconces, or something very similar, very recently, so I did a little surfing.

As it turns out, I had spotted them first on the Deco Dame website (all images are copyrighted and cannot be copied from that site). The circa 1955 sconces are attributed to Morris Lapidus, architect of the Eden Roc hotel in Miami. On the Deco Dame site, you can clearly see the hotel's initials in the crest on each sconce. The Craigslist photos don't show enough detail to be certain.

Artnet also had a record of a recent sale of a Lapidus floor lamp and sconces, shown here:

They've got to be the same design, right?!

Here's the fun part:
Craigslist sconces listed at $100.
(Granted one sconce arm looks cracked/broken.)
Deco Dame sconces listed at $4,200 for the pair.

And I believe that there is a relative of Morris Lapidus living here in Atlanta, although that's not necessarily the person selling the sconces. Just an interesting connection.

This is exactly why I love Craigslist: in amongst the dreck, there are treasures to be found!

*By about 1:30 pm today the Craigslist ad has been deleted. I'm guessing someone scored a cool deal on a pair of sconces.

**Later re-listed!