INabstracto‘s Kate Eisen and sometime partner Duncan Farnan hit the motherlode recently when they stumbled upon an old warehouse with an impressive stock of vintage Lotte Lamps, circa 1964. The lamps ($195 each) have their original shades and original tags but Eisen and Farnan have rewired them to today’s safety standards. Colors include coral, dark blue, robin’s egg, golden yellow, celadon, brown and white.
“Lottes of this vintage in perfect condition are quite rare,” says Eisen, “as well as being highly collectible by Americans, Canadians and Europeans.”
Lotte Lamps are a Canadian classic often presumed to be a Scandinavian design owing to their general aesthetic. In fact, the Bostlund family responsible for the line, emigrated to Canada from Denmark in 1952 and founded the company in Oak Ridges, Ontario, in 1957. Lotte’s are still being produced today and there’s a fantastic family history on the company’s website.
November 20th, 2009 at 6:36 am
Nice way to start my day, a coffee and a Bostlund family history lesson (which was very cool).
I love a good family run business story. It makes me want to go out and buy a Lotte!
Thanks Chris.
November 20th, 2009 at 11:19 am
Great lamps. I think I’ll check them out this weekend.
So happy that we’re still getting StyleNorth posts!
November 21st, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Okay I’m in withdrawal and I see not one but TWO Style North posts…Lois of life is good once again
November 22nd, 2009 at 8:15 pm
Oohhh, I especially love the turquoise lamp – the pairing of the vividly colored base with the earthy tone shade is really nice :)
November 23rd, 2009 at 8:30 am
Sexy and elegant, another great find by eisen/farnan.