La grande dame. That's what the locals call it. And if you think that only foreigners adorn their side tables and mantels with Eiffel Tower reproductions, you may be surprised to see miniature homages to the great lady in many a Parisian apartment...
Enter the Lampe Tour Eiffel Je t'aime from 28-year-old designer Pierre Gonalons for Ascete. In black with an off-kilter black lacquered lampshade, it's a tribute to the city's reigning symbol with a requisite dose of attitude that keeps it from being too cute. Also available in metallic silver. €269 via Absolument Design.
- Kristin Hohenadel blogging from rue Vieille du Temple, Paris, France. She can be reached at kristinh @ apartmenttherapy . com
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Comments (6)
Eiffel tower fan or not, that crooked shade would drive me crazy.
I would so love to give this to my best friend for Christmas, but there is no way I'd ever spend $500 on a novelty lamp. Ha.
WTF? The lamp is a repro from many years gone by. You can buy them in almost any gift shop along any rue de shopping street in Paris. That shade...that shade is a mistake. How many times a day would you want to go over and straighten it out?
I didn't get that shade at first... but I'm guessing it may be a wink and nod to a tipped beret?
I agree. I wouldn't pay that kind of money for something so kitchy. I probably would grow tired of looking at it after a couple months.
Tacky. "Knowingly ironic" is one thing but then to try and justify it with "no, its really very Parisian to have these..." just underscores the insecurity and the trying-too-hard.
I actually like it but hate the tipped shade - if it just had a regular straight shade on it, it would be an interesting lamp - especially if the shade covered slightly more of the lamp - wouldn't be instantly obvious that it was the Eiffel Tower
(I have a soft-spot for the Eiffel Tower ever since I got the nick-name "the grande dame" from the staff at La Droguerie in Paris where I was buying knitting yarn!)