Ceramic lamp, dreamlike childhood – W. Schilder, Germany, c. 1970

Rare and deeply poetic, this glazed ceramic lamp-sculpture created around 1970 by the German artist Waltraud Schilder sits at the subtle boundary between sculptural work and luminous object. It embodies a sensitive and humanistic vision, characteristic of the artist's work, where figuration intimately dialogues with nature and memory. The ceramic base forms a delicately narrative scene: two children are seated under a tree, close to one another, in a calm and contemplative posture. Their faces, deliberately simple and softened, seem almost erased by time, like figures emerging from memory or a dream. They evoke childhood in its most universal aspects: innocence, tranquility, and a trusting surrender to the world around them. The tree, generously sculpted, unfolds a dense and protective foliage. Small birds nestled in the branches reinforce this impression of a benevolent nature, a silent and reassuring refuge. The richly textured ceramic work reveals remarkable mastery: relief foliage, almost organic modelling, and multicoloured glazes shaded with deep greens, earthy browns, and muted blues. The whole seems to emerge from the earth itself, like a fragment of landscape frozen in time. This scene evokes a fairy-tale universe, a preserved and peaceful world, away from all agitation. It suggests a suspended moment, an intimate and timeless image where light becomes the messenger of memory. The lamp does not tell a specific story: it leaves room for the imagination, personal projection, and the reminiscence of a dreamed or idealised childhood. The whole is topped with a superb Tiffany-style stained glass lampshade, composed of opalescent and iridescent glasses in shades of blue, aquamarine, and pearlescent.