Design and implementation: Württembergische Metallwarenfabrik (WMF), Neue Kunstgewerbliche Abteilung (NKA), Geislingen/Steige, around 1950.
Mark: WMF emblem with tower (cut into on the socket); on the switch: WMF Ikora.
Measure: h. 8,6 inch (22 cm), with socket h. 10,6 “ (27 cm), dia. neck 2,9” (7,5 cm), D. stand 3,7” (9,5 cm), max. dia. 6,4 “ (16,5 cm).
State: Glass in impeccable condition; slight scratches, installation of cables accurate. Baluster-form, flat stand, neck in cylindrical form, Ikora- crystal, greentones, patterned yellow/black, stabbed blisters, clear glass overlay, white underlay, mould blown in wooden or metal moulds, form from 1930s on.
Original socket, nickel, stainless steel, construction of the lampshade is screwed between two theadrings original available, three - step switch made of white bakelit, cable textile.
The light confirm the validity of the words formulated in the second edition of the Ikora report 1929: It was „the brilliance of the colours, a richness in palette achievable by no technique employed by man, which merge, blend and seem, quickened by mysterious life, continually to be surging through each other, ensures our Ikora products a unique status in modern arts and crafts …”
The Ikora Glass made by WMF occupies an important position in the history of German glass in the first half of the 20th century, although their importance continues to be under estimated. In the charged field between the poles of one-off art glass pieces and mass-produced wares, WMF succeeded, despite the parlous state of the German economy at the time, in exerting a stimulating influence on the production of art glass in Germany.
What makes WMF Ikora glass so fascinating is in fact this successful synthesis of an “unacademic passion for glass” and traditional good workmanship. Modern observers, too, will not fail to be captivated by it. The “naive originality” of these pieces resulting from the play of colour and the process by which they were made show specially to advantage in the Ikora lightings.
In the past two decades, Ikora Glass has been on display at all important glass auctions as well as in public collections.
Cp. Carlo Burschel, Heinz Scheiffele: WMF Ikora Myra Gläser, Stuttgart 2003; Carlo Burschel, Heinz Scheiffele: WMF Ikora-Metall 1920er bis 1960er Jahre, Stuttgart 2006, S.252.
Cp.
Ikora table ligth, red, WMF, Geislingen, Germany, around 1950.