Rare Matched Pair of Greta Grossman “Cobra” Table Lamps for Ralph O. Smith 1950

An exceptional matched pair of original “Cobra” table lamps designed by Greta Magnusson Grossman and manufactured by Ralph O. Smith in Burbank, California, circa 1950.

One of Grossman's most celebrated lighting designs, the Cobra takes its name from the distinctive flattened, asymmetrical shade, whose profile recalls the expanded hood of a cobra. The sculptural enameled-metal shade is supported by a flexible segmented chrome-plated arm, allowing the lamp to be repositioned and the light directed as desired. A low circular base and simple push-button switch complete Grossman's remarkably restrained and functional composition.

The Cobra was a particularly important design in Grossman's career. It was selected for the Good Design program in 1950, the influential collaboration between the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Merchandise Mart in Chicago created to recognize outstanding contemporary industrial design.

This pair is particularly desirable for its remarkable degree of originality and surviving documentation. Both lamps retain their original Ralph O. Smith, Burbank, California manufacturer's labels as well as their original patent-pending labels. One lamp additionally retains the exceedingly desirable original “Good Design” exhibition label, stating that the article conformed to the example selected by the Museum of Modern Art for the Good Design exhibition at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago.

The lamps retain their original warm putty/gray enameled finish, chrome-plated flexible arms, switches and period components. Their exceptionally well-preserved surfaces display only minor wear consistent with age and use. Finding an original Cobra is increasingly difficult; finding a matched pair retaining this level of original labeling and finish is considerably more unusual.

A superb collector-quality pair representing the intersection of Scandinavian modernism and postwar California design for which Greta Magnusson Grossman became internationally recognized.