DESIGNED BY C.A. LLEWELYN ROBERTS: AN ART DECO CHAMPLEVE ENAMEL MOUNTED EBONY TABLE LAMP

Provenance: 

Acquired from Bonhams, London, 4th June 2008, lot 89. 

Previously owned by descendants of a Naval Attaché to the British Embassy in Singapore in the 1940s. 

C.A Llewelyn Roberts was the Designer-Director of the Birmingham Guild Ltd in the 1920s and 30s. This lamp can be closely compared to an example illustrated in an article by Tony Peart for The Decorative Arts Society Journal, 2020, pg. 39, fig. 24  & 25. 

A previous attribution to Edwin Lutyens was made by comparison to a pair of wall scones of a similar design. (See Philips, London, 4th July 1984, lot 41 and the exhibition catalogue from The Fine Arts Society Exhibition ‘Truth, Beauty and Design, Victorian, Edwardian & Later Decorative Art’, published Fischer Fine Art 1996, fig 169, pg. 70.)  Lutyens was one of the leading architects who commissioned work from the Birmingham Guild Ltd. Peart notes (p.43) that, in keeping with the practice of the day, credit was given to the commissioning architect rather than the designer-craftsman, in this case Llewelyn Roberts who was the designer-craftsman and Edwin Lutyens who was more than likely the commissioning architect. 

Condition report. 

The enamel plaques all seem to be quite loose and easily fall off. Several have been temporarily resecured. Two larger plaques are missing, two smaller ones and one ebony section missing. Please see extra images.

The enamel plaques with wear, some small scuffs, minor old chips to the odd one and some lifting out of position. Some tarnishing in areas. Some chips and losses to the surrounding ebony recesses to the plaques.

Overall, inevitable scuffs, scratches, dents, small chips (including one to the foot), shrinkage cracks, and marks commensurate with wear, use and age.