André Ricard Tatù Table Lamp

Materials: Round red ABS plastic base. Cast iron counterweight inside the base. Adjustable pivoting tubes & lampshade. Cut glass lens. E14 lamp socket.

Height: 25 cm / 9.84”

Width: ∅ 20,5 cm / 8.07”

Base: ∅ 8 cm / 3.14”

Electricity: 1 bulb E14, 1 x 40 watt maximum, 110/220 volt.
Any type of light bulb can be used, not a specific one preferred.

Period: 1970s – Mid-Century Modern.

Designer: André Ricard in 1972.

Manufacturer: Sociedad Anonima Metalarte, Paseo de la Ribera 115, Canovelles, Barcelona, Spain.

Other versions: The André Ricard Tatù table lamp exists in white, yellow, black and red.

André Ricard

André Ricard Sala (born June 18, 1929) is a Barcelona-based Catalan industrial designer and one of the key figures in the development of industrial design in Spain. His work is rooted in a very clear idea: design should make everyday life work better—quietly, efficiently, and without unnecessary “show.”

Ricard designed for many Spanish manufacturers, but also collaborated internationally with companies and brands such as Gaggia, Nestlé, Moulinex, Paco Rabanne, Pierre Fabre, Milus, Pierre Junod, and Baume & Mercier, among others.

In lighting, he is especially known for his long collaboration with Metalarte. His best-known lamp is the Tatù (1972), a compact, highly adjustable desktop spotlight that became a pop-era design icon (and was awarded an iF Design Award in 1972). You can find it referenced on Vintageinfo as well: Tatù table lamp.

Beyond objects, Ricard also helped shape design culture and institutions: he contributed to professional and educational initiatives around design in Spain, held leadership roles in design organizations, and remained an influential voice in how design is taught, evaluated, and understood.

Ricard received numerous major awards, including the Spanish National Design Prize (1987), the Creu de Sant Jordi and the IOC Olympic Order (both 1993), France’s Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres (1998), and the Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur (2011).

Metalarte

The Metalarte company was founded in 1932 in Cannoveles, some 30 km/19 mi from Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. In the 1960s and 1970s it renewed its catalogue and started working with external designers and companies. For instance, they sold lamps produced by Louis Poulsen from Denmark and Arteluce and Stilnovo from Italy. Today the company is part of the Luxonia group. Together with the Troll and Sagelux brands.

Designers that worked for Metalarte are, among others: André Ricard, Enric Franch, Josep Lluscà, Estudi Blanc, Josep Aregall, Oscar and Sergi Devesa, Antoni Arola, Lievore Altherr Molina, Ricard Ferrer, George W. Hansen, Héctor Serrano, Jordi Llopis, Ana Mir, Emili Padrós, Otto Canalda and Ramón Úbeda.

Santa & Cole

Since 2018 the red and white version are back in production in a LED version. They are sold by another Spanish company: Santa & Cole.

Text from the Santa & Cole website:

The tatu, or armadillo, is a friendly mammal with a shell on its back that protects it when it rolls up into a ball. On a transoceanic flight, while reading about Argentinean wildlife and contemplating how the light above his seat did not disturb his sleeping wife next to him, André Ricard came up with this lamp that became a pop-art icon in Europe.

André Ricard Tatù Table Lamp – 1973 Catalogue Picture

André Ricard Tatù Table Lamp – 2018 Santa & Cole Catalogue Picture