Canadian work, 1970s

H 104 x D 43 cm

Pearlescent methacrylate and brass

Very good condition

Two shells of pearlescent methacrylate are wound one inside the other around a brass rod, leaving between them the slit through which the light escapes. The material is neither opaque nor transparent: it retains the light and emits it through its thickness, giving the lamp, when switched off, almost the same presence as when switched on.

Roger Rougier, based in Montreal, founded in the 1970s one of the few workshops to treat acrylic as a sculptural material rather than an economical substitute for glass. His light fixtures are named after what they evoke—the seashell, the tulip: they seek form before seeking light.

Its 104 cm height places it on the borderline of a floor lamp: it sits on the floor as if on a console table. Original brass base.