Greta Grossman Reflecting Floor Lamp

“Cone and Cobra” double-neck and fully-adjustable reflecting lamp. Designed by Swedish-born California designer, Greta Grossman, 1948.

Signed with manufacturer’s mark on the base, Ralph O. Smith Burbank Calif.

Original black paint, with wear to the finish.

54″ x 18″ W x 11.5″ D

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Greta Magnusson-Grossman (July 21, 1906 – August 1999) was a Swedish furniture designer, interior designer, and architect. She was one of the few female designers to gain prominence during the mid-20th century architectural scene in Los Angeles. Her early exposure to European Modernism deeply influenced her later architectural work, seen as a synthesis of European ideals and the culture and lifestyle of Southern California.

In 1940, in the midst of World War II, she left Sweden and moved with her husband to Los Angeles where they opened the Magnussen-Grossman Studio on Rodeo Drive. Grossman designed almost 15 houses in Los Angeles, one in San Francisco and one in Sweden. In addition, she designed several lines of furniture for Los Angeles-based companies; such as Barker Bros, Brown Saltman, Martin Brattrud, Sherman Bertram, Mode-Line, and Glenn of California. Her lamps were produced by Ralph O. Smith in Burbank, Ca and Bergboms in Sweden.

Greta Grossman retired from design and architecture in the late 1960s and moved to the San Diego costal community of Leucadia in 1966. She designed her final building, a home for herself and husband. She spent the rest of her life removed from the design world. She painted and was a member of the San Dieguito Arts Guild between 1967-1997.