If Modernica’s Pear CC and Saucer CC Lamps seem to strike a familiar cord, that’s because you’re either a surpassing aficionado of mid-century modern design or you’ve recently been to MOMA. Because as it turns out, both pieces are not millennial creations but rather the handiwork of seminal designer George Nelson, who created the first Crisscross Pear Pendant in 1947.

Pear CC Pendant. Designed by George Nelson. Manufactured by Modernica.

Modernica Acquaints the Contemporary Age with the Pear CC and Saucer CC Lamps

Nelson’s designs were renowned for their functional simplicity and trend-setting aesthetic, as the designer formed the elegant and sculptural shapes through a two-tiered process that was innovative in its day. First establishing the structural backbone and supportive skeleton from steel wire, he next coated this frame with taut plastic.

The design resulted in a simple lamp that was relatively easy to produce yet exceeded the performance of other pendants: the taut plastic cuts down on glare, while providing “an abundant yet diffused light… a quality which alone is unique to this material.”

Modernica has succeeded in its precise reproduction of the exact specs of the original Nelson designs. The company uses the name methods that Nelson did: from carefully forming the wire frame, to bringing the exterior to fruition via painstaking application of the vinyl form, Modernica is able to re-animate a modern classic.

Modernica offers both the Pear and Saucer CC Pendants in large and small sizes: the Small Pear Pendant at 12.5”H x 13” diameter, and the Medium Pear Pendant at 19”H x 17” diameter. The Saucer Pendant is somewhat more diminutive at 7.5″ x 17.5″ diameter for the small model, and 9.5″ x 25″ diameter for the medium incarnation. Both pieces feature a mounting plate of brushed nickel-plated steel.

About the Manufacturer: While some may debate the exact date of onset of the Modern design movement, LA’s Modernica has it pegged at 1945: “This era is often said to have originated here in Los Angeles with the Case Study Program.” The company is committed to preserving the legacy established by the Eames, Neutra, and Nelson, et. al., as they focus on products exhibiting “simple design, high-quality, high-functionality, and accessibility.” The company’s wares include original designs and authentic re-issues like Nelson’s Bubble Lamps collection and Isamu Noguchi’s Three-Legged Coffee Table, all of which exemplify Modernica’s “responsibility to the ideologies of the past and evolution with the times—by introducing new products and new ideas that hold true to Modernism’s core values.”