Architectural Table Lamp with Grand Tour Bronze Figure of Narcissus – William Haines

$18,000

A striking architectural table lamp by William “Billy” Haines. The base is constructed as an open rectangular armature in ebonized metal, a signature Haines device in which structural line and negative space function as design elements in their own right, effectively creating a sculptural vitrine for the object at its center. Rising from a stepped black plinth within the frame is a Grand Tour bronze figure of Narcissus, after the celebrated antiquity excavated at the Casa di Narciso in Pompeii and now held in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli. The youth is rendered nude and in contrapposto, head inclined in the moment of self-recognition, one arm raised against a drapery-clad support, the other extended with an open palm: a pose reproduced in bronze reduction throughout the 19th century for Grand Tour travelers as a souvenir of classical study and the Pompeian excavations. The figure carries a rich, dark verdigris patina consistent with age.

Crowning the composition is a dramatic drum shade, hand-woven from reeded rod and natural cord and chenille in a textured basket-weave pattern interlaced with metallic thread: a tactile, artisanal note that offsets the architectural precision of the base, and characteristic of Haines’ layering of texture and material within a single composition. Although the shade is not original to the lamp (this style shade was a favorite with Haines) it perfectly suits the lamp. It is not perfect but given the scarcity of these shades it is totally expectable.

This lamp exemplifies Haines’ celebrated practice of integrating collected antiquities into modern architectural forms, and carries exceptional provenance, purchased from the estate of Barbara Warner Howard from her heir formerly from the Estate of Jack Warner, co-founder of Warner Bros. Studios and one of Haines’ most prominent and enduring clients.

William Haines, the former MGM leading man turned preeminent Hollywood decorator defined mid-century American glamour for a clientele that included Jack and Ann Warner, Joan Crawford, Betsy Bloomingdale, and the Reagans. Having transitioned from acting to interior design in the 1930s, Haines went on to found William Haines Designs, celebrated for a sophisticated, tailored aesthetic that paired classical antiquity with clean modern architecture: a philosophy given full expression in this lamp.