The Five Most Handsome Task Lamps Out There

The humble, enduring task lamp dates back to the early 1930s. That’s when British engineer George Carwardine combined springs, joints, arms and a base to produce the first articulating light fixture, the eloquently named Anglepoise 1227, still in production today. Since then, designers have toyed with materials (powder-coated metal, ceramics, plastic) bulbs (incandescent , LED) and mechanisms (gooseneck, ball joint). But the goal--shedding light in a pigheadedly focused way--remains the same. Here are some newcomers: The Flow Lamp’s arm swivels, while the shade of the Yuh table lamp slides up, down and around the stand,...