This table lamp from Polam Poznan, made in the 1980s, borrows its shape from the paraffin lamps of the previous century and has simply been wired for electricity. A tall, clear glass chimney rises out of a scalloped, brass-toned crown, below which sits a rounded white ceramic globe on a polished, silver-toned metal foot.
Polam was the common name under which Poland's state-owned lighting factories worked in the 1970s and 1980s, with plants in Poznan, Gdansk, Pila and Wilkasy among others. Decorative table lamps in a nostalgic, rural style were a staple of Polish living rooms in those years, and this one follows that taste closely. No individual designer is recorded for the model, as is common for factory lighting of the period.
The globe is glazed to a soft gloss and carries a transfer-printed band of folk-style flowers in cobalt blue, yellow, red and green, with curling leaves between the blooms. The pattern wraps around the whole belly, so the view changes as the lamp is turned. The plated base has the cool sheen of mid-century metalwork, while the crown adds a warmer brass tone that picks up the yellow of the flowers.
Slim and tall, the lamp sits comfortably on a sideboard, a bedside table or a windowsill. It is a single period piece, offered exactly as photographed.
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