Walter Bosse Donkey Table Lamp 1950s

Table lamp form of a donkey designed by Walter Bosse and manufactured by Hertha Baller, Austria, Vienna, in 1950s. The donkey is made of patinated and aged blackened brass placed on a teak base with two original shades.

This charming piece is an eye catcher in every midcentury house.

Very rare piece.

39 H x  19 W x D cm.

Walter Bosse (November 13, 1904–December 13, 1979) was a Viennese artist, designer, ceramist, potter, metalworker, and craftsman noted for his modernist bronze animal figurines and grotesques. Walter Bosse attended the Wiener Kunstgewerbeschule, now the University of Applied Arts Vienna, from 1918-1921, where he studied ceramics under Michael Powolny, and ornament under Franz Cižek. He then attended the Munich School of Applied Arts (Münchner Kunstgewerbeschule). During his schooling he was given the opportunity to sell his work at the Wiener Werkstätte by Josef Hoffmann, who became a mentor to Bosse. Bosse opened his own shop in Kufstein in 1923. He formed a partnership with Hertha Baller, whose company (the Hertha Baller Company) manufactured and marketed the brass figurines, this collaboration was called the Bosse/Baller company. In the early 1950s, Bosse and Baller began exploring a new style of brass called the “Black Gold Line” or “Black Golden Line” of brass figurines. He transitioned all of his efforts to brass and the figures became popular worldwide.