A pair of gilt bronze Pomme de Pin torchere lamps
after the model by Alberto Giacometti, produced by Frances Elkins, manufactured by Hanschen & Goddard, San Francisco
circa 1930s
height 66 1/2in (169cm)
Provenance: Provided by Frances Elkins to Mr. Daniel Murphy, 2076 West Adams Boulevard, Los Angeles, California.

Footnote:Frances Adler Elkins (1888 – 1953), was one of the twentieth centurys most prominent female interior designers. She was the sister of renowned architect David Adler. Elkins was dubbed "the first great California decorator" by Dorothea Walker of House & Garden Magazine.

Elkins joined her brother in Europe while he studied architecture at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. The siblings mixed in Avant Garde art circles and came to know designer Jean Michel Frank and sculptor Alberto Giacometti. Elkins collaborated with Frank and Giacometti on several of their respective designs.

After a brief marriage to polo player and playwright Felton Brookall Elkins, she moved to Monterey and started a business decorating interiors for friends in Pebble Beach which expanded to projects with her brother throughout California as well as Illinois and New York and independent commissions for residential and commercial properties.

Alberto Giacometti designed the Pomme de Pin torchere for Jean Michel Frank who operated a boutique and gallery at 140 rue du Faubourg Saint Honore in Paris. Frances Elkins was the sole representative for Jean Michel Frank in California. Elkins had established a royalty payment arrangement with Frank which allowed her to reproduce individual designs in her Hanschen & Goddard workshops in San Francisco.

Fitted with the original reflector luminator sleeve mounting. General marks, scratches, rubbing, crazing, spotty loss of surface and wear. Some visible in catalogue photo. With white primer visible under gilding. Areas of touch up restoration. Should be checked by a qualified electrician prior to use.