Bernard-Albin Gras (1886–1943) designed his now-iconic series of articulated lamps in 1921, conceived for office and industrial use. The construction was radical for its moment — no screws, no welded joints, the arm articulating on a system of clamps and rivets. Production passed to the Ravel company of Clamart in 1927, and the Lampe Gras quickly transcended its workshop origins: Le Corbusier specified them throughout his architectural projects and in his own studio, and they appear in the interiors and ateliers of Robert Mallet-Stevens, Jacques-Émile Ruhlmann, Eileen Gray, Sonia Delaunay and Georges Braque. The series — models 201, 205, 206 and their variants — became the first industrial lamp equally at home in a factory and a private apartment, and one of the foundational objects of twentieth-century French modernism.
Bernard-Albin Gras lighting at 3details
Original Ravel-period examples are increasingly scarce. Pieces offered here are vintage productions, sourced in France, with patina and finish noted individually.