A highly decorative Dutch Amsterdam School pendant lantern by De Nieuwe Honsel, dating from the 1920s. Originally used as an entrance hall lantern, it combines expressive geometric decoration with a slender, architectural silhouette.
The elongated glass body tapers towards a narrower bottom, with 6 panels held within the framework. Above, a copper cap is raised on small spindle-shaped supports, creating an open gallery between the glass and the top. The long suspension chain completes the composition.
The decoration is particularly striking. Warm ochre, dark almost black accents, combined with burnt-orange. Gently undulating blue lines soften the angular pattern, introducing a delicate contrast to the strong vertical divisions of the framework.
Decorative even when unlit, the lantern was conceived to bring colour and atmosphere - a welcoming feature in an entrance hall or stairwell. Now often used as an accent piece, suspended in a corner of a room.
The lamp has been professionally rewired and is in good working order.
Background information: De Nieuwe Honsel
De Nieuwe Honsel was one of the most distinctive Dutch decorative-glass workshops of the period. The atelier became known for its so-called Pyrochrome glass, in which glass was painted, fired and shaped into expressive decorative forms.
During the early 1920s, under the influence of the Amsterdam School, the workshop moved away from naturalistic ornament towards a more abstract language of vivid colour, strong contrasts, curling lines and geometric forms. Its work occupies a distinctive place within Dutch interior design of the period, where glass, structure and illumination were conceived as a single atmospheric composition.
The work of De Nieuwe Honsel is discussed within the broader context of Dutch decorative arts in Living in the Amsterdam School: Designs for the Interior 1910–1930 by Ingeborg de Roode and Marjan Groot.
Total height, including suspension as shown: 100 cm / 39.4 in, Lantern height: 37 cm / 14.6 in. Width at widest point: 20 cm / 7.9 in. Width at bottom: 12 cm / 4.7 in
Creator
Manufacturer
De Nieuwe Honsel glass atelier
Design Period
1920 to 1929
Production Period
1920 to 1929
Country of Manufacture
Netherlands
Identifying Marks
Style
Art Deco, Arts & Crafts, Amsterdam School, antique, 1920s
