This "eyeball lamp" comes by way of St. Louis Craigslist and was somewhat of an impulse purchase. "That's kinda cool," I thought, "looks sorta like a Sonneman Orbiter." In the trunk it went. Yes, they did look similar, but it was missing the trademark handle and they've pumped out knockoffs of Sonneman's by the thousands, so I thought nothing of it.
Then I get home and, in the process of giving it a once-over, noticed this tiny green sticker.
Yep, it's confirmed. This is a "Kovacs", not a Sonneman. Oh well.
Or is it...
I hadn't heard of the Kovacs name before, so I performed a little Google magic and guess what.
It's a gen-u-ine Sonneman!
From what I can gather, Robert Sonneman designed a series of lamps for Robert Kovacs' light fixture company. This included the orbiter series, but also a number of other lamps that didn't include the adjustable Orbiter handle.
The details all match up (the hinge, the wire, the stand material, etc.), so unlike a lot of other ID attempts, I'm fairly certain about this one (though feel free to correct me if I'm mistaken).
So now this little guy is gonna direct his cyclopic gaze over my study. No more Walmart junk-lamp here!
Great find!I love that style.
ReplyDeleteThanks Hannah! You've been on a roll yourself. You've had some great finds lately.
DeleteI dig it, nice score. I know energy efficient is the way to go but you gotta loose the twist bulb or get one that has the cover over it. I've got a chrome table lamp with 3 exposed bulbs at different heights, my GF tried getting me to put the twist bulbs in it. I told her I'd plant a tree after I put three of the short frosted round incandescent 40 watters in it.
ReplyDeleteHah! I wish I could say that I put those things in for altruistic reasons, but it's purely for the savings on my energy bill. If I can save a couple cents a month per lamp, that's a little bit extra that I'll have left over for buying more furniture.
DeleteThat's a very cool find, congrats! I have an eyeball gooseneck table lamp.
ReplyDeleteis it the same line? Got a link? Kovacs put out some really nice stuff.
DeleteI love it!
ReplyDeleteGood, because it's staying in the office :P I'm going to have to hide all my stuff when you get back over so that you don't make me sell off my treasure trove.
DeleteGreat find! Isn't it great to get something home and find out it's more than you expected? Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteYes! Usually it works the other way around.
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