Marcello Cuneo Red Porcelain Table Lamp – NOT

Materials: Red glazed half round ceramic base. Red glazed ceramic half globe diffuser in the middle, adjustable. Bakelite E14 socket.

Height: 30 cm / 11.81”

Width: 20 cm / 7.87”

Electricity: 1 bulb E14, 1 x 40 watt maximum, 110/220 volt.
Not any type of light bulb can be used. A small round one is preferred.

Period: 1970s – Mid-Century Modern.

Designer: To be appraised.

Manufacturer: Koninklijke Philips, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.

Other versions: This red porcelain table lamp exists in several sizes, models and colours.

These lamps are always sold as a “Marcello Cuneo red porcelain table lamp”, but they are not. This lamp is named Venezia and won an iF Design Award in 1974. It also does not appear on the website of Marcello Cuneo. Remarkable for a lamp that has won an award.

Often you find them labelled en pressed in the bottom with SC3 Italy, such as these ones, never with a Gabbianelli label. In all probability SC3, an Italian ceramics company, produced the lamps for Philips and also sold them under their name in a later stadium. This lamp is often named model SC3, designed by Marcello Cuneo… but there are many different models, all with the SC3 label.

The mistake is understandable, these lamps and the ceramics are very similar with the glazing of Gabbianelli. But at that time many companies produced similar colourful ceramics. The Italian Sicart company is a fine example. Especially the Pino Spagnolo designs are reminiscent.

Koninklijke Philips N.V.

Inspired by the fast-growing electricity industry and the promising results of Gerard Philips own experiments to make reliable carbon filaments, Frederik Philips (his father) financed the purchase of a modest factory in Eindhoven, The Netherlands in 1891.  Frederik Philips was a Jewish banker based in Zaltbommel.

In 1895, after difficult first four years and near bankruptcy, Anton Philips joined the company. He was Gerard’s younger brother. With Anton’s arrival, the family business began to expand rapidly. The brothers changed their family business by founding the Philips corporation. They laid the foundations for the later electronics multinational.

In 1930 the first shaver of the Philips company was introduced and was simply called “The Philishave”.

A day before the German invasion in the Netherlands on 9 Mai 1940, the Philips family fled to the United States of America, taking a large amount of the company capital with them.

Operating from the US as the North American Philips Company, they managed to run the company throughout the war. After World War II the company was moved back to the Netherlands, with their headquarters in Eindhoven.

Marcello Cuneo

Marcello Cuneo, born in Cagliari, Italy in 1933, graduated from the Milan Polytechnic. He worked for 8 years with the famous Giò Ponti.

Since the 1960s, architect Marcello Cuneo has been an exponent of the Italian interior design and industrial design that has become so well known all over the world as a synonym of high quality design. His projects have received prestigious national as well as international awards. More info on his website.

His most famous lamp is the Longobarda (Lombard) lamp he designed in 1966, named after an ancient Lombard’s helmet. It was first manufactured by Gabbianelli, then by Ghieri. Marcello Cuneo past away in Milan, February 2, 2015.