Mid-Century Acrylic Glass Candlestick by Jt Kalmar, 1960s

The Austrian designer and entrepreneur Julius Theodor (J. T.) Kalmar was born in Vienna in 1884. As the son of Julius August Kalmar – founder of the company of the same name, which specialized in candlesticks and other objects cast from bronze – Kalmar gained extensive design experience at a young age. He went to the Birmingham School of Art and studied at the Vienna University of Applied Arts under the Vienna Secession architect Josef Hoffmann (1870 – 1956).

In 1906, Kalmar joined his father’s company, which he took over in 1913. A strong supporter of the Arts & Crafts movement, Kalmar led the company away from the eclecticism of the late 19th century. Kalmar’s design aesthetic was characterized by the integration of form and function, as well as a mix of classic tradition and forward-looking innovation. In the 1920s, his designs dominated the influential avant-garde furniture store Haus & Garten, which was founded by the famous architects Josef Frank (1885 – 1967) and Oskar Wlach (1881 – 1963).

from the 1930s onwards, Kalmar worked with the Austrian Werkbund – an association of architects, artists, craftsmen and manufacturers who stood for modernist design principles. Kalmar designed a series of glass chandeliers and furnishings for the Werkbund. These pieces demonstrated the most careful execution and craftsmanship. Made from materials such as glass, bronze and copper, these designs were devoid of any decoration but were tastefully purist.

During his career, Kalmar designed lighting for many renowned architects, such as Josef Frank and Oskar Wlach, Oskar Stmad, Clemens Holzmeister, Oswald Haerdtl, Carl Appel, Erich Boltenstern and Ernst Plischke, as well as for important institutions such as the Vienna Opera and the Burgtheater and the Vienna Stock Exchange. In the last decade of his life, Kalmar developed a number of very popular lighting collections, including Tulipan (circa 1960), Ice Glass (1960s) and Atomic (1969).

Kalmar died in 1968. The company continued under the leadership of his son-in-law Rudols Calice. Today, Thomas Calice is the fourth generation to run the company. Kalmar lighting can be found in prominent locations around the world, such as the RMS Queen Mary 2, the Moscow Kremlin and the Burj Khalifa in Dubai