CHELSEA ARTISTS DESIGN LAMP SHADES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16987, 10 March 1923, Page 3 (Supplement)

CHELSEA ARTISTS DESIGN LAMP SHADES.

J Lamp shades are becoming more and more individual and it is interesting to observe the new ideas that are exj pressing themselves. A couple of j Chelsea artists have recently produced j shades in which are united the arts jof etching and lacquering. The latj ter forms a wonderful background for j the solid black lines of the etched j design, producing by its rich, colours behind the black tracery an effect i which is as beautiful as it is unusual. The excellence and originality of the designs contribute to make these shades a delight to the eye. Encircling one is a typical Chelsea scene, depicting the Embankment at Ckeyne Walk. Slender sentinel trees edge the pavement, their leafless branches i | silhouetted against the sky. And bei J'ond them gleams the Thames, behind I which, on the other side, rise factory chimneys. Characteristic pedestrians stroll along the sidewalk ; the fashionable lady, the smart nursemaid reading a book as she pushes.-, the perambu later, the art student dressed for the j art. the postman, a gioup of children closely resembling that of Carlyle himself, once so familiar in the l district. | DESIGNS FROM NATURE. Very simple bird designs are particularly happy, notably one with white geese on a black ground that is especially good for a reading lamp: and another on which blackbirds and branches of fir trees are treated in a decorative way. Sometimes flowers are the theme os in an inverted bowl shade for a centre light in which orange and yellow Canterbury bells produce a becoming radiance of tone. The same design lacquered in tints of blue and purple gives almost the effect of daylight. The number of each shade that it is possible to print is necessarily limited by the duration of the plate on which the designs are etched. REALISM IN CONVENTIONAL FORM Very different are some parchment shades painted by an Italian woman artist. These are generally square and the four panels thus formed are decorated with a continuous group of flowers or fruit boldly painted in water colours. They are intended for large standard lamps. One shade shows a fine array of dahlias, yellow, red, and white against a background of broken, bluish colour. Another beautiful shade has on it luscious cherries, glowing in red, yellow, and black among leaves. A riot of autumn sunflowers forms the subject for the artist’s brush in yet a third shade. Many people, however, prefer the purely decorative treatment of flowers used in lamp shades painted by another of the Chelsea artists. One example is a dish shade for a centre pendant made of silk and painted dull orange below and blue above, divided by a band of fruits and herbaceousborder flowers. There are also parchment shades in various designs for small standard lamps. The special nursery shades by the same artist, who is most prolific of ideas, are delightful. Some are in the ordinary circular shape painted in bright colours with figures of children j out of nursery rhymes. Other quaint i shades which are much appreciated by small people are in a square form representing either Peter Pan’s house |

in the tops of the trees, or the “ House that Jack Built.” j ELECTRIC LIGHT SHIELDS, j Two women artists are responsible I for the designs on several very inox i pensive printed paper shades for elec trie lights that arc quite a new idea ; One of these artists has a delightful nursery for her own little girl in her J Chelsea house and she has evidently ! had other people's nurseries in thought when she evolved the alert orange vermillion rabbit which is seen on a black background against a large white moon. while conventional appear in the foreground and ora-ng - coloured clouds float above. It is clever in conception and delightfully carried out in canary-yellow ar.d a nice grey-blue. Another charming design shows a crinolined Victorian I lady in sun and shower with parasol or umbrella to suit the occasion.