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Henri Fernandez Agate Table Lamp

Materials: Gilded moulded brass tree and roots base. Brass gold plated rod for the tree trunk. 3 brown agate discs or slices lampshade. Gold painted Bakelite E14 socket.

Height: 26 cm / 10.23”

Width: 11 cm / 4.33”

Base:  11 cm / 4.33”

Electricity: 1 bulb E14, 1 x 60 watt maximum, 110/220 volt.
Any type of light bulb can be used, not a specific one preferred.

Period: 1970s, 1980s – Hollywood Regency.

Designer: Henri Fernandez (born 1946).

Manufacturer: Henri Fernandez for Maison Honoré, Paris, France.

Other versions: This Henri Fernandez agate table lamp was made in many variations. None of these lamps are the same. These table lamps are all unique.

Henri Fernandez

Henri Fernandez, born in 1946, is a French sculptor. After studying metallurgy, he began a profession of milling turner, then turned to sculpture, which he learned as an autodidact. His creations are unique pieces made by hand. He combines steel, copper, brass and minerals, such as agate or amethyst. He prefers cold materials to give them a shine and beauty that is unusual with monumental and realistic decorative objects. Fernandez works quickly with big names in French sculpture like Alain Chervet or Jacques Duval Brasseur.

Henri Fernandez designed furniture and lighting for the companies Jacques Duval-Brasseur and Maison Honoré. Sometimes his works are signed, often not, but his style is undeniable. He always used materials like brass, agate and other precious stones. Often animals and plants were created. His favorites were insects and snakes. As many artists at that time he also made several palm tree table and floor lamps. Some of his designs are numbered and dated, most of them small series of tables.

More recently Fernandez designed a chandelier for the French company Antiques MC. It is still for sale.

He not only worked with brass and minerals, but also with resin. He made several items and lamps in fractal resin such as artist Pierre Giraudon. His pyramid table lamps are the most well known. 

A company exists with the name Sculptures Artdesign. The president is Henri Fernandez. It is located in Quincy-sous-Sénart, some 30 km from Paris. It is unknown if it is the same Henri Fernandez. Although it is not a French name but Spanish, it is still quite common in France. There are around 50 people with the name Henri Fernandez in the French telephone book. 

Maison Honoré

Isabelle and Richard Faure founded the Maison Honoré workshop in Paris, France together with Richard Deniau. Often said that they made these lamps. Probably a carelessness. In all probability they were all made by Henri Fernandez for Maison Honoré. The company no longer exists.

Agate

The stone was given its name by Theophrastus who discovered the stone along the shore line of the river Achates in Sicily, Italy. Theophrastus was a Greek philosopher and naturalist.

VLM Components

The socket of this lamp was made in the late 70s, early 80s by VLM Components from Buccinasco, near Milan in Italy. The company is famous for the switches designed by Achille Castiglioni in 1968. All the other electric parts are French and made in the 70s. 

A big Henri Fernandez table lamp was sold on French TV in 2019 during the show Affaire Conclue. A program were vendors have one of their objects appraised by different specialists. (in French)