Lampes de table ovales sculpturales en pin, lot de 2

Two smooth eggs of honey-coloured wood, each crowned with a crisp cone of pale fabric, make this pair of Scandinavian Modern table lamps a quietly sculptural presence. They come from Sweden in the 1970s and are shaped in pine, with the grain sweeping around every curve and dark knots left proudly in view. Simple as the idea is, the pair has real wit, like two pebbles wearing paper hats.

In the 1970s Swedish design turned warmly towards pine. After the polished teak and rosewood of the previous decades, this paler, softer wood spoke of forests, country houses and an easy, unpretentious way of living. Makers let the material lead, choosing full, rounded forms that show off the grain rather than hide it. Here the body is pieced from blocks of solid wood, so the rings meet in soft arcs and flames across the surface, and no two sides look the same.

The pine has mellowed to a deep amber that glows almost copper in low light. Both lamps now wear new conical fabric shades in an off-white weave, their sharp geometry a lovely foil for the rounded bases. Switched on, the cones soften to a warm, sandy glow and pool light over the wood beneath. Place them on either side of a bed or at both ends of a long sideboard, and the evening settles in.