A Bronze Palm-Form Table Lamp with Original Lacquered Raffia Shade

Mid-Century Bronze Palm-Form Table Lamp with Original Lacquered Raffia Shade, circa 1950s–60s Height including original shade 66 cm A cast mid-20th-century bronze table lamp modelled as a stylised palm tree, exhibiting the sculptural exoticism characteristic of British and Continental decorative lighting of the 1950s and 1960s. The stepped circular base is architecturally tiered, rising to a tapering column cast with an all-over diamond-scaled texture evoking the trunk of a date palm. The upper section issues a dense radial cluster of cast and crisply tooled fronds, each leaf defined by diagonally incised veining and subtle curvature consistent with small-batch metalworking of the period. The lamp retains its original conical raffia shade, lacquered in a warm terracotta hue typical of mid-century tropical-revival design. The patination to the bronze is an attractive mottled olive-brown, with surface variation from age and handling that enhances the sculptural presence of the piece. Raffia is a natural fibre obtained from the leaves of the raffia palm, a genus of palms (Raphia) native to tropical regions of Africa, Madagascar, and parts of Central and South America. It has been used for centuries in textiles, basketry, and decorative arts because of its strength, flexibility, and distinctive textured appearance. Raffia was widely used in the 1950s–60s tropical revival movement, aligning with rattan, bamboo, and woven grasscloths in interior design. In this lamp, the original lacquered raffia shade is a key mid-century material and a desirable addition. Lamps of this type were produced in limited numbers for high-end decorators and boutique interiors in the post-war decades, and share affinities with the mid-century palm-form lighting from notable British suppliers active during the 1950s and 1960s. Surviving examples with original shades are scarce.