Monday, January 6, 2014

F.A.I.P - the down low

Met with a client recently who mentioned a lamp that was in her house growing up.  We are close to the same age, but I could not remember the style of lamp.   So when I got home,  I jumped online to see if I could find a image.  The minute I saw it I remembered the lamp.

We did not have one of these in my house growing up, but I remember seeing  them at friend's houses when I was a kid.  Do you remember these?!
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This style lamp has the stamp FAIP on the base, and there seems to be some debate over what this represents.  One school of thought - it stands for "Fine Art In Plastics"  while others claim it stands for "Federal Arts Initiative Program."

 Regardless, both agree these lamps were produced in Brooklyn, New York (in the 1950's) by art students who were attempting to create sophisticated, highly collectible lamps.

It does seem plausible that a group of artist were creating these since there are lots of different shapes and styles of these lamps.

The one common thread seems to be the textured surfaces and mid-century modern vibe for all these lamps with the copyright label F.A.I.P.

Given the unknown origin of these lamps, the pricing on them seems to wildly vary from $10 on ebay to $1000's on higher end auction sites like 1st Dibbs.   The image below is a space designed by the very talented Emily Henderson using a pair of these lamps.
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While this style is not for everyone, one thing is for sure, they bring back memories of my childhood!  M.




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