Paavo Tynell Ballerina Table Lamp Model 9211 in Brass & White Glass Taito 1950s

An elegant and rare table lamp model 9211 designed by Paavo Tynell and manufactured by Taito in Finland in the 1950s. The lamp body is made with cast brass and has a sleek seamless shape covered with a white rounded opal glass shade topped with a brass flower decoration on the middle. The switch is hidden on the inside along with two sockets. The lamp is in great original condition and stamped Oy Taito Ab, 9211. Only the wiring has been renewed up to modern standards. Minimum wear and marks due to age and use. It is nothing short of a miracle that we get offered such beauties as this one every now and then, in full original condition, especially the original glass part.


Paavo Tynell (1890–1973) was a Finnish designer who is well renowned around the world for his incredible lighting fixtures and lamps. Tynell is known as the man who “illuminated Finland” and his works can be found in numerous public offices and buildings such as the Finnish Parliament House and the office of Secretary-General of the United Nations in New York.

Tynell started as a sheet metal worker´s apprentice at G.W.Sohlbergs workshop in 1906. After that he moved to Taidetakomo Koru Oy in 1912, which was a metal workshop specializing in electric light fixtures. Then Paavo studied at the Central School of Applied Arts in Helsinki and after that he taught in it too. Paavo then founded Taito Oy in 1918 with a number of colleagues. Taito produced a number of other items other than just light fixtures in the early years, however the main focus became lamps after Finland adopted the use of electricity. By the 1930s Finnish households started buying light fixtures as the use of electricity became more common. In the 1920s Taito`s main sales were still mostly public commissions, for example the Paimio Sanatorium which was designed by Alvar aalto.

After WW2 and the quite challenging shortage years in Finland, Tynell finally had his major breakthrough. His style became quite distinctive and was mainly aimed at the U.S. markets. He sold both catalogue lamps as well as commissioned works through Finland House in N.Y. Although his late 1940s-1950s style was widely criticized at first in Finland, he stuck to it, and luckily so. It wasn´t long before his lamp fixtures became Finland House´s best selling product. Nowadays Tynells high end lamps fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars worldwide, and deservingly so. His commisioned lamps number in the thousands, and unfortunately not all documents or archive materials are intact