The bedside wall sconce was the postwar answer to a small-room problem: light beside the bed without giving up the nightstand to a lamp. European makers of the 1950s and 60s refined the type — a compact brass arm, a pressed-glass shade to soften the bulb, and the detail that made them beloved: a pull cord, so the light could be switched off with a sleepy hand without finding a switch on the wall.
This pair is attributed to Groewe and dated to the 1960s, each sconce a shaped brass wall plate carrying a slender arm and a cylindrical shade of pressed glass, frosted with a diamond-quilted texture and ringed by a band of raised scrolls picked out in amber. Hold a hand behind the shade in the photograph's place and you see the design's logic — the frosting diffuses the bulb into an even glow while the polished amber scrolls stay bright, so the shade reads as jewellery when lit. Both pull-cord switches are present and everything is functional; the shades are numbered 3684. The pair is sold without bulbs and is prepared for wall installation.
Both shades are intact, with some oxidation to the brass and the gilt finish a little faded on the wall plates — honest marks of their sixty-odd years, shown as they are in the photographs. Whoever read by this pair before you kept them working. They are ready to flank a bed, a mirror, or a hallway.
Each sconce takes a standard E14 small screw bulb, maximum 40 watts, and both are in working order. The pair arrives professionally packed and fully insured — we handle the paperwork and worldwide shipping, with all import duties paid by us, so there is nothing to settle on delivery. Returns are accepted within 30 days.
DETAILS:
Each sconce: Height 27 cm (10.6 in) · Depth 16 cm (6.3 in) · Width 10 cm (3.9 in) — each roughly the height of a wine bottle
Brass fittings; frosted pressed glass shades with amber scroll relief · Numbered 3684
Sold as a pair
Electrical: E14 small screw sockets, max 40W per sconce; pull-cord switches, fully functional; sold without bulbs; wall-mounted, for fixed installation
Condition: good vintage condition; glass intact, some oxidation to brass, gilt finish faded on wall plates
