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Cermonac Monaco Table Lamp

Materials: Black, gold & green coloured ceramics base. Sea fish inside a pot, aquarium style. Conical light green fabric lampshade. Bakelite E27 socket.

Total Height: 42 cm / 16.53”

Height: 30 cm / 11.81”

Base: ∅ 18 cm / 7.08”

Electricity: 1 bulb E14, 1 x 40 watt maximum, 110/220 volt.
Any type of light bulb can be used. But preferably the smallest you can get. 

Period: 1950s, 1960s, 1970s – Kitsch.

Designer: To be appraised.

Manufacturer: Cermonac, Principality of Monaco.

Other versions: This Cermonac Monaco table lamp exists in many versions, all with fish, shellfish and crustaceans, bright colours, typical for the 1950s, 1960s.

Ceramic art of the Côte d’Azur

The various centers of production are located in two departments of the Côte d’Azur: the Alpes-Maritimes, including the Principality of Monaco and the Var. Vallauris, in the Alpes Maritimes, has been and remains the most important production center of this region. They make ceramics for more than 2000 years, in Monaco only since 1874. After the second world war the ceramics became famous worldwide.

Pablo Picasso

In 1946 Pablo Picasso visited the city and became a potter. From that moment on, Vallauris will be the meeting place of the artistic aristocracy. Joan Miró, Henri Matisse, Raoul Dufy, Marc Chagall, Fernand Léger, Georges Braque, Jean Lurçat, Édouard Pignon, Tsuguharu Foujita, Jean Cocteau, Jean Marais, André Masson, Victor Brauner, all of whom, like the Master, will try their hand at ceramics.

This intellectual abundance attracts young people eager for adventure. They were named: Michel Anasse, Dominique Baudart, Marius Bessone, Frederique Bourguet, Roger Collet, Francine Delpierre, Jean Derval, Albert Diatto, Isabelle Ferlay, Marcel Giraud, Odette Gourju, Jacques Innocenti, Irène Kostanda, Alexandre Kostanda (her son), Jean-Claude Malarmey, Marius Musarra, Lubina Naumowitch, Robert Pérot, Gilbert Portanier, Placide Saltalamacchia “AEgitna”, Max Siffredi (known as Mabyjo’s), Piot Thiry, Albert Thiry, Gilbert Valentin, Lilette , Valdemar Volkoff and many others.

In 1960, there were about 150 workshops or factories in Vallauris, three times more than in 1920. In 1970, there were more than 200.

These lamps became very popular in the 1950s and 1960s, but you could find them until the late 1970s in souvenir shops along the coast throughout Europe. Some lamps and pots had labels on it with the name of the city were they were sold, as you can see on the pictures below.
The big fish has a label “Ostende”, written in French. Ostend is a coastal city in Belgium. Another one has “Le Lavandou” glued on it. Le Lavandou is some 150 km for Vallauris. 

Cermonac Monaco Table Lamp tourist souvenir pot kitsch starfish shellfish 1950s 1960s France MCM

Cermonac Monaco Table Lamp tourist souvenir pot kitsch starfish shellfish 1950s 1960s France MCM

Vallauris Ceramic Fish Table Lamp tourist souvenir kitsch starfish shellfish 1950s 1960s France MCM

Vallauris Ceramic Fish Table Lamp tourist souvenir kitsch starfish shellfish 1950s 1960s France MCM

Vallauris Ceramic Fish Table Lamp tourist souvenir kitsch starfish shellfish 1950s 1960s France MCM

Vallauris Ceramic Fish Table Lamp tourist souvenir kitsch starfish shellfish 1950s 1960s France MCM

Vallauris Ceramic Fish Table Lamp tourist souvenir kitsch starfish shellfish 1950s 1960s France MCM

Vallauris Ceramic Fish Table Lamp tourist souvenir kitsch starfish shellfish 1950s 1960s France MCM

Vallauris Ceramic Fish Table Lamp tourist souvenir kitsch starfish shellfish 1950s 1960s France MCM

Vallauris Ceramic Fish Table Lamp tourist souvenir kitsch starfish shellfish 1950s 1960s France MCM