Buquet Table Lamp | EB 28

Édouard-Wilfrid Buquet, 1927

At 4.29 p.m. on 9th February, 1927 Eduard-Wilfrid Buquet feild his patent for parts of this table lamp, particularly the flexible joints, at the Ministère du Commerce et l'Industrie in Paris. Various versions were produced until the 1940's. Although little is known about Buquet we do know that he produced this lamp himself and probably designed it as well.

The “Buquet” table lamp is impressively functional, stunningly elegant and mysteriously fragile. It was developed in 1925 by a French engineer and designer by the name of Édouard-Wilfrid Buquet. He must have suspected that he’d created something special, as he patented parts of the lamp, especially the joints, at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce in Paris just two years later on 9 February 1927 – at 16:29, to be precise! While we know that Édouard-Wilfrid Buquet developed many fine lamps, that’s sadly where our knowledge about him comes to an end. However, the shape of the EB 27 table lamp perfectly reflects his feel for aesthetics and functionality, which was closely related to the esprit of the Bauhaus movement.

In his lamp from 1927, Édouard-Wilfrid Buquet interprets the search for balance as a shift in weight. In fact, he describes this poetic shift of light in his patent as a “rotatable light fixture with articulated joints”. In practical terms, this construction allows the light head to be moved into almost any conceivable position by slightly shifting the weights.

In addition to the table lamp, Buquet also developed wall and floor lamps according to the same principle. Although the French designer’s Bauhaus-style lamp became a global hit that was highly regarded and mentioned in several publications, little more is known about Buquet and his work.

The object rose to fame thanks to Lucien Rollin’s Desk of a Technician, made of oak and Swedish birch, which was exhibited alongside the lamp at the Salon of the Société des Artistes Décorateurs in 1929. Buquet’s design was presented to an even greater audience through publications in French magazines in the late 1930s. It became one of the most popular table lamp designs of the Art Deco period and the 1920s, and it was often integrated in the interior designs conceptualised by architects like Le Corbusier, Marcel Breuer, Joubert and Petit, Maurice Barret, Louis Sognot, and Marcel Coard.

Buquet designed and produced several variations of the lamp until 1940, although the double-arm version proved to be the most popular due to its functionality. He even designed silver-plated versions. A specimen of the “EB 27” lamp is exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
The price of an original lamp was set at $10,000 in 1997.

We had to modify certain details for technical reasons, namely the interior of the flexible joints and the stand, which used to be made of wood. Since the small reflector will only take a small holder, we have equipped the lamp with halogen 50 Watt. The transformer is housed in the stand, which is thus made of metal. Virtually all the parts have to be handmade. The brass, which is the metal used, has been finished with a 0.9000 silver coating, and finally brushed to provide a matt surface.

Silver-plated metal with 90s edition.
Alternatively available: nickel-plated metal.

Each lamp is numbered consecutively and bears the TECNOLUMEN signet.

Bulb supplied: LED lamp spot 5.5 W, 12 V matt (EEK: G)

Variants

EB 28 Si
EB 28 Ni

Édouard-Wilfrid Buquet

1866 – unbekannt
Édouard-Wilfrid Buquet

Little is known about the life of Édouard-Wilfrid Buquet. He was born in France in 1866. Unfortunately, the date and place of his death are not recorded.

Research from the 1970s revealed that in 1925 he designed the two-arm desk lamp "EB 27," handcrafted from nickel-plated brass, aluminum, and lacquered wood. On February 9, 1927, he received a patent from the Ministère du Commerce et l'Industrie in Paris for his lamp, particularly for the flexible parts.

Learn more about Édouard-Wilfrid Buquet

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