Spanish Colonial Revival Torchiere Lamp

JE has a beautiful wrought iron Spanish Colonial Revival Torchiere floor lamp, hand wrought in a time frame from the 1920s to 1930s. When it was created, electricity for lighting the home was a relatively new invention. The first commercial application of the first electric lightbulb was in the 1870s; because of the brightness of the light, this invention was not used domestically, but used for movie projectors, stage lighting, and to light dangerous streets. In 1802 Humphry Davy invented – by accident – the first electric light bulb, called the electric arc lamp. He connected wires to an electric battery and a strip of platinum which, to his surprise, produced a glow. It was not until the 1910s that affluent households began to use electric light bulbs, and electricians created lamps for inside the home; any fine vase was a candidate for electrification. I have often found fabulous Ming dynasty vases of porcelain “drilled” for the insertion of an electrical cord. Thus, interior lighting is only 100 years old; the widespread use of light bulbs did not occur until after WWII in England and in the U.S. 

The early aesthetics of the lamp tell stories – all lamps had a theme; it was not enough just to hold a light bulb. Thus, JE’s lamp looks like it had once been an architectural feature of an ancient Spanish gate. JE’s torchiere has a barley sugar twist surmounting a trefoil style circular base, and a dual pair of pull chain lights, which is the true 1920s Spanish Colonial Revival style.

The Spanish colonial flavor of the torchiere pictured here was typical of the style of lighting as it was first introduced to the American home in the late 19^th to early 20^th century, because lamps were meant to blend in with a themed interior decorating scheme. Instead of celebrating the newness of the technology of the electric light bulb, lamp designs featured naked beauties holding lighted globes aloft, Arab merchants and their camels standing close to a blazing sun, leaded glass shades with dragonfly or lotus designs aglow. This period was called the Revival era, in which all “good” design referenced a previous era, such as the Gothic, Spanish Colonial, or Louis XV styles. Likewise, JE’s torchiers reference the grand lights that were oil-burning at the entries of Spanish Castles, created in curving wrought iron. 

Santa Barbara owes much to the days when the Spanish Colonial Revival style was coveted in the first and second quarter of the 20^th century in California. Many old 1920s Montecito mansions boasted wrought iron wall sconces of this “Spanish” design. The great period of Spanish Colonial Revival design was the early 20^th century, but California had a “soft” revival of that style in the 1970s and 80s.

Now to the designer of JE’s torchiere: I attribute the style to a New York metalwork designer, Oscar B. Bach, who designed in both the Gothic and Spanish Colonial; he farmed those two eras for 14^th-17^th century wrought iron architectural touches on which to base themed lamps. Bach was born in Berlin in the late 19^th century. A wealthy uncle noticed his artistic temperament and young Oscar was sent to art school by the age of eight. At 14, he was apprenticed to two important German masters of metal work. He studied in Vienna at the Royal Academy, and then at the Imperial Academy in Berlin. He opened a metalwork studio in Hamburg, and then immigrated to New York. Bach had a following from the wealthy upper-class families based in New York with “summer homes” in Montecito in the first half of the 20^th century. 

Bach was an influential artisan in first 20^th century metal work in the Revival styles of past eras: however, the metalwork he did in antique revival styles celebrated modernity in significant ways. JE’s torchieres reference the style of 17^th century Spain, but Bach had a solid understanding of electrical engineering; the lamp still functions well today. Bach designed a metalwork telephone table in the 1920s which was rendered in the Spanish Colonial Style of curving wrought iron and marble, which referenced Spanish 17^th century altar cubicles. However, the table and chair were meant for a telephone and not for a monastery; his skillfull incorporation of one of the first private phones into the table makes me think of a confessional. Bach was technically adept, stylistically diverse, and commercially successful, as we can see from his clients in Montecito – and JE’s great-great aunt was one of these clients. The value of JE’s
torchiere is $700.