styleNorth

When Toronto Life’s Veronica Maddocks interviewed us for the magazine she asked, “So is that it? Is the decorating finally done?” Mike and I agreed that yes, for the most part, we were done because we finally loved everything in the space and to bring something new in meant that something we treasured would have to go. And so this post is as much a celebration of our fabulous new living room light fixture (above), as it is a eulogy for a piece I have referred to as my “prized possession,” our 1930s Art Moderne pendant (below).

I know lots of you will think we’re crazy–the deco piece is stunning, full stop. But as the room evolved the pendant felt more and more like a sore thumb, albeit a pretty one. Yes, the aluminium worked well with the chrome in the space, but stylistically it was an island surrounded by a sea of exotica.

The old fixture’s days were numbered the moment Mike and I laid eyes on the reticulated brass globe that now hangs in its place. We found it at Martin Augsten’s tiny Rogue Gallery (733 Queen Street East) in Toronto. It wasn’t in working condition so even though we loved it we thought the $275 price tag was too high. After two months of carrying a torch for the piece, we went back to the store and offered Augsten $200 for it “as is.” We settled on $220 then took it to Eclectic Revival on Dundas West in the Junction, where owner Peter Breese wired it and provided a vintage brass ceiling cup and chain for just $100. Thanks Peter!

When we installed the orb Mike kept singing “Disco Inferno,” and it’s true the shadow effect is pretty out there, especially with the other lights off (above). It’s also dramatic and mysterious and suddenly the light is working with everything else in the room instead of stubbornly going its own way.

Although the new globe pendant looks vaguely Indian or Middle Eastern, Martin couldn’t tell us anything definitive about it. That we found out by chance when I passed by a house in our neighbourhood and noticed a fixture through the window that looked remarkably similar to ours.

The day we picked up our orb we knocked on the door of the house in question with the lamp in hand and I said, “Hi, I’m Chris and I couldn’t help noticing that your light fixture looks an awful lot like this one,” (presenting orb). The woman’s jaw dropped. “Oh my gosh,” she said, “where did you get that? It’s just like ours! Come in, come in.”

She kindly took us into her dining room (left) and sure enough, our orb is a larger version of her piece, right down to the relief detail and the clasp, which are exactly the same. Hers is lined with rice paper, something we’ve foregone in favour of those mesmerizing shadows.

Our neighbour told us that her parents bought the lamp in Beirut in the 1960s. So now we know where it comes from and its approximate age. We also know another one of our neighbours who welcomed our visit in the best possible spirit: “I wish more people would do things like this,” she said approvingly. Thanks Merilotte!