A striking object staged inside its own architecture. A chrome frame rises from a white Corian plinth in a single squared arch, and the porcelain shade hangs from its crossbar on a fine cord - no harp, stem, or finial. The light sits separately below in a footed porcelain chalice that casts upward into the underside of the shade, which returns it to the table as soft indirect light. Pegs along one upright let the cord hook at four heights, so the shade can float free of the base or drop until the two forms close into a single silhouette. Lit, the chalice glows warm while the dome above reads as a field of diffused light.
Andrea Branzi (1938-2023) was among the most consequential Italian designers of the postwar era. He co-founded Archizoom Associati in 1966, the collective at the center of Radical Design's challenge to modernist orthodoxy, and went on to shape both Studio Alchimia and Memphis before co-founding Milan's Domus Academy in 1982. He received the Compasso d'Oro for lifetime achievement in 1987. The Passaggi series, produced by Design Gallery Milano in small numbered editions across marble, glass, Corian, and porcelain, distills a preoccupation that ran through his later work: the ordinary object held within a frame that turns use into display. This lamp belongs to that lineage, and the adjustable suspension makes the relationship between shade and vessel something the owner sets rather than inherits.
Inscribed along the edge of the plinth: ANDREA BRANZI 1998 11/20. From an edition of twenty produced by Design Gallery Milano. A similar model is illustrated in Michele De Lucchi, Design Gallery versus Design Industry, 1988/2010 (Corraini Edizioni, Verona, 2010).
In very good restored condition. The shade sustained a hairline crack that has been professionally conserved; the repair is invisible and the shade rings true when tapped. The porcelain is otherwise free of chips or cracks, with minor surface marks consistent with careful use. The suspension cord has been replaced in kind. The plinth carries a small mark visible in the accompanying photos, and the chrome retains a bright finish throughout. Conservation documentation available to the buyer. Takes an E14 bulb. In working order with a US plug.
13" x 18" x 22"
