French Sculptural Floor Lamp "Ruban" By Jacques Charles for Maison Charles, 1960

This floor lamp, model 'Ruban' (ribbon), was designed by Jacques Charles around 1965. Just like many other Charles designs from that period it’s shade is made out of folded metal, which gives the lamp a sculptural appearance. The ribbon shaped shade is echoed by the brown plexiglass element which connects it to the stem. The height of the shade is adjustable. In original and good vintage condition, with some rust in the stem.
Maison Charles was founded in 1908 by Ernest Charles when he took over a bronze casting workshop in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris. From the start on the Charles House specialized in the (re)production of bronze lamps. Just like the products of French counterparts like Maison Jansen and Maison Ramsay, the high end Charles pieces soon found their way to a prominent clientele inside and outside France. The typical Charles style as we still know it nowadays - consisting of a mixture of classical and contemporary elements executed to a very high standard - was developed in the 1950s and 1960s. By that time the company and the design studio were led by the second and third generation of the Charles family.