Captain Corus Cate’s dining room chandelier (a 1969 vintage Moe 2149)

1969 was a very good year for Moe Lighting. Last week, DH and I took down our “old” vintage Lightolier dining room light and in its place put this M-2149 Moe. Isn’t she a beauty? I bought her many years ago, cheap on ebay. I also got two sconces in the deal, and over the next several years brought my sconce tally to six “just in case”. The light looks fabulous, and it’s amazingly heavy. Oh, and if you can pause to peek above the light, you can see: I am wallpapering the ceiling too. What a pain in the neck, but it’s looking fantastic.

I also discovered, when I went to pull this Moe out of “my attic lighting store,” that I have the M-2549 too! I’d forgotten. Oops! Christmas in July! My 2010 scans from my 1969 Moe lighting catalog are here.

Here’s some of the Moe text about this lighting series from the catalog:

Unrestricted flexibility, simple lines and incorporation of man-made materials enable today’s contemporary stylings to be fashionably functional. It’s interesting to note that what we term “modern” today actually originated in the 1920’s in Germany. There, the Bauhaus School staffed by leading designers, architects, and painters had as its credo, “form must follow function.”

…

M-2149 — A unique blending of the Old and the New Worlds. Hand-hammered antique bronze forms a framework that is geometrically contemporary in its execution. This eclectic styling is an ideal mix-and-match chandelier.

…

Coruscated gilt bronze gleams…

“Coruscated” — I had to look that one up. Read Retro Renovation! Improve your vocabulary!

I call this style of light “brutalist”, but it’s interesting to read how Moe tied the design back to the Bauhaus era. I am not an expert on either, so I dunno really. I do know, though, is that the light works just fine in my Mahalo Lounge mashup. My “story” is that the light is pirate ship bounty: A chest of purloined gold doubloons hammered into a showy chandelier for Captain Corus Cate’s private dining room. He be swingin’ on it soon enough, full of rum and threatening all foes who defy him.

DH wants me to get some of the sconces wired in, too. Aye, matey, he’s diggin’ it.

I’ve written a lot about Moe lighting over the years — they were immensely popular. See all my Moe Lighting stories here.