Kaiser Idell Model 6556 Desk Lamp | Original Bauhaus Table Lamp by Christian Dell, Retro Yellow

A1940s Kaiser Idell model 6556 desk lamp, one of the true icons of Bauhaus lighting design, here in a striking retro yellow rather than the more commonly found black or white. The shade still carries its embossed "ORIGINAL KAISER-idell" mark.

At a glance

The story

Christian Dell was born in 1893 in Offenbach am Main and trained as a silversmith before studying at the arts and crafts college in Weimar. From 1922 to 1925, he worked as foreman of the metal workshop at the Weimar Bauhaus, a role that put him at the centre of the movement's most formative years and left him with a lasting influence over its approach to functional, precisely engineered design. From 1926, Dell began designing lamps for Gebr. Kaiser & Co., the lighting manufacturer founded in 1895 by silversmith and industrial designer Hermann Kaiser. Dell was not the company's founder, but his designs gave the brand its identity so completely that the name Kaiser Idell fuses the two together, Kaiser for the manufacturer, and Idell as a play on Dell's own surname and the word "idea." Dell was also an early adopter of Bakelite and other early plastics in lamp construction, pushing the material into serious industrial design use as early as 1929.

The 6556 became one of the defining models in the Kaiser Idell catalogue, built around the patented swivel joint that let the shade and arm move independently, and topped with the characteristic domed shade embossed with the brand's own name. Kaiser Idell lamps found their way into offices, workshops, and homes throughout the mid-twentieth century, valued for exactly the combination this piece still offers: adjustable, practical mechanics housed in a design confident enough to still look modern today. Christian Dell continued designing until the Second World War disrupted the industry; afterward he moved into silversmithing, running his own jeweller's shop in Wiesbaden from 1948 until 1955, and remained there until his death in 1974.

This particular lamp retains its original E27 fitting and the original built-in switch on the base, along with the embossed "ORIGINAL KAISER-idell" mark on the shade that confirms its authenticity. As a genuine vintage piece from the 1940s, it may carry honest signs of wear, please look closely at the photographs.

Suited to collectors of Bauhaus and German industrial design, interior designers looking for an authentic, functioning piece of design history, and anyone who wants a desk lamp with both real provenance and a colour that stands out from the more commonly found black and white versions.