Ingo Maurer, Lucellino lamp

INGO MAURER (Reichenau, Germany, 1932 – Munich, 2019).
"Lucellino" table lamp.
Early edition. Ingo Maurer GmbH, Munich, 1992.
Feathers and metal.
In working condition. Vintage piece. Exhibits wear consistent with age and use.
Measurements: 30 x 35 cm.

The Lucellino is one of the most iconic and poetic pieces in the history of 20th-century lighting design, presented by Ingo Maurer in 1992 and now part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The design is one of radical conceptual simplicity: a frosted opal glass bulb—manufactured for 24 volts, a specification for railway use, produced exclusively for Ingo Maurer GmbH—to which two handcrafted feather wings have been attached, mounted on a slender structure of copper wires (red and black) soldered directly onto the socket, which emerge from a circular white plastic base. The result is an object that straddles the line between lamp and sculpture, between functionality and metaphor: the bulb—a universal symbol of the idea—takes on a life of its own and takes flight. The name is a play on words between the Italian terms luce (light) and uccellino (little bird). The wings, handmade, are unique to each piece. Ingo Maurer, nicknamed “the poet of light,” is considered one of the most influential and original lighting designers of the 20th century.