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Anglepoise lamp

{{Short description|Balanced-arm lamp}}

{{EngvarB|date=September 2017}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}

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File:Anglepoise1227.jpg

The Anglepoise lamp is a balanced-arm lamp designed in 1932 by British designer George Carwardine.

History and development

File:WAAF Instrument Mechanics at Work (1941) (ArtIWM.ART LD 1298).jpg Instrument Mechanics at Work (1941) by Dorothy Coke]]

George Carwardine (1887–1947) was a car designer and a freelance design consultant specialising in vehicle suspension systems.{{Citation |last=Carwardine |first=George |title=Anglepoise lamp 1227 |date=1938 |url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O301712/anglepoise-lamp-1227-carwardine-george/ |access-date=2024-11-03 |last2=Herbert Terry & Sons}} While developing new concepts for vehicle suspensions, he created a mechanism which he recognised had applications in other fields. He particularly saw its benefits for a task lamp. Despite many claims to the contrary, his concept had nothing whatsoever to do with mimicking the actions of the human arm.{{Cite web |title=Anglepoise - Shining a Light on British Design. |url=https://www.sirgordonbennett.com/gordons-bugle/anglepoise-lamps/ |access-date=2024-11-03 |website=Sir Gordon Bennett |language=en-GB}} The joints and spring tension allow the lamp to be moved into a wide range of positions which it will maintain without being clamped.{{Cite web |last=Q42 |first=Fabrique & |title=Anglepoise, under the spotlight |url=https://designmuseum.org/discover-design/all-design-objects/anglepoise-under-the-spotlight |access-date=2024-11-03 |website=Design Museum |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Natalie |date=2018-09-20 |title=Design Story: The Anglepoise Lamp |url=https://www.workovereasy.com/2018/09/20/design-story-the-anglepoise-lamp/ |access-date=2024-11-03 |website=Work Over Easy |language=en-GB}}

Carwardine applied to be a patent, number 404,615,{{Cite web|url=https://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/originalDocument?CC=GB&NR=404615A&KC=A&FT=D&ND=3&date=19340104&DB=EPODOC&locale=en_EP|title=Patent Specification – Improvements in elastic equipoising mechanisms (GB404615A)|website=|publisher=Espacenet|access-date=13 November 2016}} for a design using the mechanism on 4 July 1932, and manufactured the lamp himself in the workshops of his own company, Cardine Accessories, in Bath.{{Cite web |title=George Carwardine |url=https://www.anglepoise.com/designers/george-carwardine/?srsltid=AfmBOoroBxSj0Oiy8ogf1zXRM4i9bDoSIW76mwfO-ZwP9C3NOpA9XZrE |access-date=2024-11-03 |website=Anglepoise |language=en-GB}} He soon found the interest and demand so great that he needed a major expansion or partner and, on 22 February 1934, entered into a licensing agreement with Herbert Terry and Sons in Redditch.{{cite news |last=Cleaver |first=Naomi |title=Design classics: the Anglepoise lamp |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/3345384/Design-classics-the-Anglepoise-lamp.html |access-date=11 November 2017 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=15 October 2005 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Anglepoise|title=Graces Guide – British Industrial History|access-date=7 November 2014 | work = Grace's Guide to British Industrial History.| publisher = Grace's Guide }} Terry's manufactured and marketed the lamp, while Carwardine continued to develop the concept, producing a number of other versions and applications (for example, for supporting microphones). The original four-spring design was made for working environments, such as workshops and doctors' and dentists' surgeries, but he also designed a three-spring version for use in the home, patented on 10 February 1934. (patent number 433,617).{{Cite web|url=https://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/originalDocument?CC=GB&NR=433617A&KC=A&FT=D&ND=4&date=19350812&DB=EPODOC&locale=en_EP|title=Patent Specification – Improvements to equipoising mechanism (GB433617A)|website=|access-date=13 November 2016}}

The 1227 Anglepoise was released in 1935. It was primarily manufactured for the home and proved to be extremely popular.{{Cite web |title=Anglepoise Original 1227 Table Lamp Bright Chrome |url=https://andlight.com/shop/anglepoise-original-1227-12718p.html |access-date=2024-11-03 |website=andlight.com |language=en}} The 1227 was hugely promoted by the Terry Spring Company and when England declared war on Germany on September 3 1939 the company ran an advert on the same day describing it as the "ideal blackout lamp".{{cite web |url=http://twelvetwentyseven.wordpress.com/history/ |title=1227 |date=4 February 2012 |access-date=7 November 2014 }}

Although the Second World War had a detrimental effect on standard Anglepoise production, the Terry Spring Company was producing Anglepoise lamps for the navigator's station in bombers. According to the Anglepoise website, these were so well produced that when a crashed Vickers Wellington bomber was salvaged from Loch Ness in Scotland in 1985, the lamp still worked after being given a new battery – despite being submerged for around four decades.{{cite web |url=https://www.anglepoise.com/about |title=Anglepoise |access-date=7 November 2014 |publisher=Anglepoise |archive-date=16 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516192304/https://www.anglepoise.com/about/ |url-status=dead }}

File:Anglepoise 90 close up springs.jpg

A key feature of the Anglepoise design and patent is the placement of all springs (either three or four) near the base.{{Cite web |title=George Carwardine {{!}} Designers |url=https://www.viaduct.co.uk/designers/george-carwardine |access-date=2024-11-03 |website=Viaduct Furniture |language=en}} The design was extensively copied by other companies, usually in simplified form, and is still in use. Some derivatives use a heavy balance weight instead of the springs. The most common version replaces the arm linkages with two independent parallelogram linkages, with a pair of light tension springs on each half of the arm.

The arm has been employed in other devices where it is necessary to hold an object stationary at a convenient point in space, notably the copy holder for typists and in some applications, the computer display screen.

The lamps have been made from a variety of materials over the years, evolving from the early full steel prototypes into later models made from brass and aluminium. {{cite web |url=https://support.anglepoise.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360022921093-How-can-I-date-my-vintage-or-current-Anglepoise-lamp- |title=How To Date My Anglepoise |access-date=4 December 2020 | publisher = Anglepoise Support}}

Although the lamp is still marketed as an iconic British design, production for all lamps, except the 1227 Giant model, has been moved to China.{{Cite news|title = The little firm with the bright ideas|url = http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/business/the-little-firm-with-the-bright-ideas-1-5841872|work = The News|access-date = 20 February 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170701231545/http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/business/the-little-firm-with-the-bright-ideas-1-5841872|archive-date = 1 July 2017|url-status = dead}}

Anglepoise lamps at the BBC

In 1948 the Board of Governors of the BBC asked the head of the Variety Department, Michael Standing, to devise a guiding set of moral standards and protocols for the production of all BBC radio and television programmes. Standing produced what became known within the BBC as the "Green Book", whose purpose was to eradicate smut, innuendo and vulgarity from all BBC programmes. After producing the book Standing took to implementing his guidance with eccentric zeal. In June 1949 he issued a memo to all staff in which he forbade BBC employees to illuminate any room with an Anglepoise lamp unless the main ceiling or wall light was also illuminated: Standing held a firm belief that a man working at a desk in a confined space with only the light from a low-power lamp would nurture furtive ideas and produce degenerate programme material. Director General Sir William Haley later rescinded the Anglepoise lamp edict as unnecessary.John Birt, The Harder Path (Time Warner Paperbacks, 2003),p.193.

In culture

See also

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

{{Commons category|Anglepoise lamps}}

  • [http://www.designmuseum.org/design/anglepoise DesignMuseum.org], The Design Museum page on the lamp and its development / history.
  • [https://www.anglepoise.com/ www.anglepoise.com], Maker's home page
  • [https://www.scp.co.uk/collections/anglepoise-collection Angelpoise collection], Angelpoise collection
  • [http://twelvetwentyseven.wordpress.com/history/ The Anglepoise: a History], Harry Langworthy

{{Artificial light sources}}

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Category:Lighting brands

Category:Types of lamp

Category:British brands