Regency Hanging Lamp in Murano Glass from Kalmar Franken Kg, Austria, 1960s

A beautiful hanging lamp from Kalmar by Franken KG.

This is a beautiful model hanging lamp. The special shapes in the design give these lamps a completely individual and unique look.

This lamp was made in the 1960s from thick Murano glass in a beautiful golden brass frame. This gives the light of the lamp a nice warm glow.

The lamp is still in good vintage condition. The Austrian designer-entrepreneur Julius Theodor (J.T.) Kalmar was born in Vienna in 1884. Kalmar gained a wealth of design expertise in his formative years. Kalmar attended the Birmingham School of Art as well as the University of Applied Arts in Vienna under the direction of Viennese Secession architect Josef Hoffmann (1870-1956). Kalmar joined his father’s company in 1906 and eventually took over in 1913. A strong supporter of the Arts & Crafts movement, Kalmar led the company away from the eclecticism of the late 19th century. Kalmar’s design aesthetic was characterized by an integration of form and function and a blend of classic tradition with forward-thinking innovation. In the mid-1920s, his designs dominated the influential, avant-garde home furnishing store Haus & Garten, founded by leading architects Josef Frank (1885-1967) and Oskar Wlach (1881-1963). In the 1930s, Kalmar began collaborating with the Austrian Werkbund, an association founded by architects, artists, craftsmen and manufacturers committed to modernist design principles. Kalmar created a series of glass chandeliers and fixtures for the Werkbund, which exuded meticulous construction and craftsmanship. Using traditional materials such as glass, bronze and brass, these designs eschewed ornaments, favoring a purist aesthetic instead. Throughout his career, Kalmar designed lighting fixtures for many renowned architects, including Josef Frank and Oskar Wlach, Oskar Strnad, Clemens Holzmeister, Oswald Haerdtl, Carl Appel, Erich Boltenstern and Ernst Plischke, as well as important institutions, such as the Vienna Opera, Burg Theater and the Vienna Stock Exchange. In the last decade of his life, Kalmar developed a number of very popular lighting collections, including Tulipan (ca. 1960s), Ice Glass (1960s) and Atomic (1969). Kalmar passed away in 1968, but the company continued under the direction of his son-in-law, Rudols Calice. This pendant is rare and in good condition consistent with age and use.