Versalite
Light Fitting
1948 (designed and made)
1948 (designed and made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
The "Versalite" range was first shown at the `Design at Work' exhibition in 1948 and then used in the 1951 Festival of Britain exhibition. A.B. Read, RDI, ARCA, FSIA studied metalwork at the Royal College of Art 1919-1923. His interest in Gropius's work led him to visit the Bauhaus. After working with the French lighting firm of Bagnés, 1924-25, he became consultant designer and director of Troughton and Young, where he gained a reputation as a pioneer in the design of light fittings. He was also later retained as a designer by the Carter, Stabler and Adams Ltd (Poole Pottery). Working with many architects of the Modern Movement in the 1920s and 1930s, he did much to alter the character of interior lighting.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Versalite (manufacturer's title) |
| Materials and techniques | The shades, painted aluminium attach to a brass sphere on a chromium plated steel rod by chrome plated, machined joints. |
| Brief description | 'Versalite' adjustable light fitting, chromium plated steel and painted aluminium, designed by A.B. Read and manufactured by Troughton and Young, England, 1948. |
| Physical description | Three lamp suspended light fitting in chromium plated steel, painted brass and aluminium. The conical shades of spun aluminium are painted a cinnamon red and are fully adjustable so that they can be pointed towards the floor, the wall or the ceiling. Each shade has a line of perforations at the rim and a star shaped pattern cut out of the crest of the dome. The interiors of the shades painted an off white colour, bayonet fittings for the light bulbs; the shades attached to a brass sphere painted cream which is supported by a narrow, chrome plated steel rod, slightly flared at the tip and terminates in a hemispherical brass ceiling rose at the top, originally painted cream. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | TROUGHTON LIGHTING LTD (Incised on a steel annular ring within the ceiling rose.) |
| Object history | This light fitting was installed in a flat in Covent Garden in 1948 where it remained until the flat was sold in 1997. |
| Summary | The "Versalite" range was first shown at the `Design at Work' exhibition in 1948 and then used in the 1951 Festival of Britain exhibition. A.B. Read, RDI, ARCA, FSIA studied metalwork at the Royal College of Art 1919-1923. His interest in Gropius's work led him to visit the Bauhaus. After working with the French lighting firm of Bagnés, 1924-25, he became consultant designer and director of Troughton and Young, where he gained a reputation as a pioneer in the design of light fittings. He was also later retained as a designer by the Carter, Stabler and Adams Ltd (Poole Pottery). Working with many architects of the Modern Movement in the 1920s and 1930s, he did much to alter the character of interior lighting. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | M.213-2011 |
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| Record created | July 12, 2011 |
| Record URL |
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