Square Coffee Table and Lamp
Hotel Praha, 1970s

Description:

A tall, composite table-lamp, designed for the Hotel Praha during the 1970s. 

Commissioned by the Communist Party in Czechoslovakia, construction began on the Hotel Praha in 1975. Beyond hosting the communist delegation, one of the salient aims of the Hotel was to entertain and impress foreign visitors. 

Amidst a backdrop of austerity in the years prior to the Velvet Revolution, the Hotel was an architectural emblem created by some of the leading architects and designers in the former communist state. The colossal, curved building covered 9800 square-meters and  comprised 136 rooms, a restaurant, swimming pool, and bowling alley. 

Owing to the project's uneasy political legacy, few pieces survived the demolition of this project in 2014. 

This composite table-lamp represents the salient atmosphere of leisure and decadence that the Hotel Praha cultivated. The low table perfectly compliments the lounge armchairs from the Hotel, perfectly positioned to hold a cocktail glass or cigar tray. 

The lamp part of this piece was likely produced by one of the largest producers of opal-glass in former Czechoslovakia, Osvětlovací Sklo. The brass band, connecting the upper and lower part of the lamp is very similar in construction to another lamp designed for the Hotel, the "Prominent II" designed by Karel Volf, which could be found in the saunas and hallways of the Hotel Praha. 

Specifications:

Design Period: 1970-1980
Materials: Beech, opal glass, brass. 
Height: 50cm
Width: 60cm
Depth: 60cm