george nelson - criss cross pear

Of all the hanging lights from the feverish design period of the late forties and early fifties the George Nelson Bubble series are probably the most loved. Originally designed in 1947 and put into production by Herman Miller in the early fifties the lamps have now achieved the status of mid century classic and are part of the permanent collection in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Unsurpassed in their apparent simplicity the purity of the design hides a great deal of complexity and forced a number of innovations in manufacturing. The lights were first reissued by Modernica but have now been reacquired by Herman Miller who use the original tooling for the armatures and the same skin technology for the diffuser originally developed by the American military for covering and protecting mothballed aircraft after the second world war. The skin is unusual in that it remains white when illuminated giving a very beautiful calming and if necessary bright light which emphasises the stark precision of the internal frame. The Bubble Lamps are immutable and as such float effortlessly above a churning world that demands change in all things.