Bernard Schottlander Mantis floor lamp, Sweden 1951

This is an original and rare example of an adjustable floor lamp called Mantis, designed by sculptor Bernard Schottlander (1924 -1999) in 1951. This lamp, produced some years later under license of Swedish Bergbom was only produced between 1953 and 1957. The yellow shade is unique for the Bergbom version. It was not made in many copies, making this a very rare find. It features a light grey painted sleek bent stem and a yellow painted sculpted shade. The lamp has 360 degree rotation and is adjustable in five positions. The height varies from 135 cm to 170 cm. The lamp is in clean and very good original condition and good working order. Schottlander was a British, German-born designer and sculptor who was influenced by artists like Alexander Calder and other prominent sculptors of the new abstract and kinetic movement of the era. Great metal worker and craftsman created “Serge Mouile style” lamps with a refined adjustable system. Focusing extensively on the mechanism of the lamp, he devised a clever system of counterweights combined with a very sleek but strong flexible metal bar, bringing it to a beautiful sculptural expression. His lamps appear to defy the laws of gravity. An eternal play between balance and imbalance. Schottlander was a British, German-born designer and sculptor. From 1963 he focused on being a full time sculptor.
His archive is located at the University of Brighton Design Archives, and his work was celebrated in an exhibition at the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds in 2007.