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Object Timeline

2002

  • Work on this object began.

2007

2025

  • You found it!

Garland Light

This is a light. It was designed by Tord Boontje and manufactured by Artecnica. It is dated 2002 and we acquired it in 2007. Its medium is brass-plated photographically etched stainless steel. It is a part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts department.

The Dutch-born award-winning designer Tord Boontje, is a graduate of both the Design Academy in Eindhoven and the Royal College of Art in London. His interior architecture and exhibition designs include both unique and limited edition pieces, commissions for museums like the Victoria and Albert in London, and work for retailers as varied as Target and Hermès. Boontje’s numerous mass-produced designs include textiles for Kvadrat and tableware for Salviati. Boontje's work is held by major museums.
The Garland light represents an intersection of Boontje’s interest in pattern-making and textiles. Designed to be mass produced in various metal finishes and colors, each lamp is a pliable garland with no fixed shape. The photographically-etched stainless steel can be draped and layered around a light bulb according to the owner’s whim. Garland exemplifies a growing trend among designers to create works that can be customized by the end user.
The proposed acquisition of Garland in two metal finishes would augment the museum’s holdings of contemporary Dutch design and would help to bring the lighting collection into the 21st century. The Garland light will also be included in the forthcoming Cooper-Hewitt exhibition Rococo: The Continuing Curve, 1730–2008.

This object was donated by Artecnica. It is credited Gift of Artecnica.

  • PH Artichoke Hanging Lamp
  • bent sheet copper, cast steel, enameled metal.
  • Museum purchase from General Exhibition Funds.
  • 1983-16-1
This object has not been digitized yet.

Its dimensions are

approx 10 × 10 × 10 in; cord length 15 in

Cite this object as

Garland Light; Designed by Tord Boontje (Dutch, b. 1968); Manufactured by Artecnica (United States); USA; brass-plated photographically etched stainless steel; approx 10 × 10 × 10 in; cord length 15 in; Gift of Artecnica; 2007-38-2

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If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18710579/ |title=Garland Light |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=10 March 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>