Tahiti Table lamp - by Ettore Sottsass / 1981 by Memphis Milano Multicoloured

The "Memphis Milano" catalogue includes icons designed by the famous Memphis collective between 1981 and 1988. True works of art, these collector's items revolutionised the creative and commercial logic of design in the 80s. Founded in Milan in 1981 by Ettore Sottsass, the Memphis group brought together international architects and designers such as Michele De Lucchi, Matteo Thun, Martine Bedin, Nathalie Du Pasquier, Shiro Kuramata, George J. Sowden. A true cultural phenomenon, Memphis really shook up the design codes by voluntarily placing itself outside the canons of "good taste" of the time. Out went the pure, hard functionalism and austerity Bauhaus-style, and in came fantasy with colourful and eccentric creations. The first Memphis collection hit like a bombshell: a proliferation of exuberant patterns, explosive colours, intrepid asymmetries, geometric shapes stacked up like totems, new use of plastic laminate considered "cheap" until then. Soon, Memphis became THE subversive label of Italian design with its wacky, colourful world inspired by comics, Pop Art, cinema, Kitsch and Art Deco. It was a revolution: design, until then confined to the showrooms, invaded the media and inflamed passion. Considered symbols of Anti-design and New Design, the Memphis creations such as the Tahiti table lamp are above all the manifestation of an unlimited creativity which breaks free of the constraints dictated by industry and the law of the market. Within the confines of design, architecture, art and post-modernism, these exceptional pieces are now sought after by collectors around the world and exhibited in the most prestigious museums. More than 20 years after the end of the movement, the "Memphis Milano" company continues to produce around fifty handcrafted historical pieces designed by Memphis between 1981 and 1988. These original models are collector's items all bearing the "Memphis" seal, a guarantee of authenticity. In addition, each piece has its own paper certificate of authenticity, itself bearing the "Memphis" seal. Some models bear the signature of the designer. Designed in 1981 by Ettore Sottsass, the Tahiti lamp with its duck head and cocktail of colours and materials has become one of the great icons of the Memphis group. This stylised bird consists of a rectangular plastic laminate base with black confetti patterns from which lacquered metal elements rise up. Perched at the end of a long neck, the head formed of a pink lacquered metal disc holds the light source in its beak. The head pivots.