Mauri Almari table lamp

This table lamp, model K11-15, was conceived in the early 1950s by Finnish designer Mauri Almari and produced by Idman Oy in Turku, Finland. Its conical shade is crafted from sheet metal, coated in a crisp white lacquer that remains remarkably even despite six decades of use. Along the lower rim of the shade, a precise row of elongated perforations serves a dual purpose: to allow heat to escape and to cast a delicate ring of diffused light when the lamp is illuminated.

The shade is secured to a swivel joint made of solid brass, permitting a ninety-degree range of motion for directed task lighting. This joint leads to a slender, vertical brass stem that has developed a soft, golden patina over time, indicative of its authentic vintage condition. The stem terminates in a circular base, which is unusually wrapped in segmented panels of natural, undyed leather—a material choice that introduces a tactile warmth and textural contrast to the lamp’s otherwise cool metallic palette.

Overall dimensions measure approximately 14.5 cm in diameter at the shade, 30 cm in depth from front of shade to back of base, and 46 cm in overall height. The metal surfaces exhibit fine, age-related surface marks and the leather shows gentle creasing and slight darkening at the seams, all of which attest to its well-preserved originality rather than detract from its aesthetic.

Mauri Almari (1906–1990) was instrumental in Finland’s post-war lighting renaissance, favoring solutions that combined geometric clarity with functional innovation. His collaborations with Idman yielded fixtures celebrated for their engineering finesse and purity of form. Idman Oy, founded in the early 20th century, earned its reputation by marrying skilled metalwork with forward-thinking design, working alongside luminaries such as Tapio Wirkkala and Lisa Johansson-Pape to define the look of Scandinavian modernism. The K11-15 lamp exemplifies their shared ethos: an object where every detail, from perforation spacing to joint mechanics, is executed with disciplined precision and understated elegance.