Collection Online

Mandarin standard lamp
(c. 1957)

Medium
glass (enamel), painted steel, aluminium (enamel), brass, electrical components

Measurements
160.0 × 56.0 cm diameter

Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, NGV Foundation and NGV Supporters of Australian Art, 2021
© Public Domain

Gallery location
Gallery 12
Level 2, NGV Australia

 

About this work

Studying mechanical drafting at Melbourne Technical College (now RMIT University) in the late 1930s, Joyce Coffey was a pioneer of industrial design in Australia. She was the first woman to achieve recognition as an industrial designer in a major Australian manufacturing business, Kempthorne Lighting. Working as a team with her husband James Selwyn Kempthorne Coffey, they designed and developed an extensive range of domestic light fittings for Kempthorne Lighting. By 1946 Joyce Coffey was named chief designer and today, the company is recognised for inspiring the widespread adoption of modern style lamps in Australian homes.

Artwork Details

Place/s of Execution
Melbourne, Victoria

Accession Number
2021.306

Department
Australian Decorative Arts