Christian Dell

In 1922 he joined the Bauhaus in Weimar as foreman of the metal workshop, a position he held until 1925. The workshop was then in its early years, still sorting out what it wanted to be, and Dell played a hands-on role in shaping the curriculum. He worked alongside students who would become central figures in European modernism - Marianne Brandt, Wilhelm Wagenfeld, and Hans Przyrembel all passed through the workshop during his tenure. His contribution was less theoretical than practical: he translated the workshop's ideas about form and function into actual techniques, teaching the difference between a vessel designed to be made and one designed to be admired.

In 1926 he moved to the Frankfurt Städelschule as head of the new metalwork course, arriving just as Frankfurt was becoming one of Europe's most ambitious laboratories for modern urban design. The city's housing programme, led by architect Ernst May, was building thousands of affordable apartments and needed furniture, fittings, and fixtures at scale. Dell began designing lamps - first for the New Frankfurt project, then for the lamp manufacturer Gebr. Kaiser & Co. in Neheim-Hüsten. These were task lights built around the logic of adjustability: a counterweighted arm, a shade that tilts and pivots, a base heavy enough to stay put on a working desk. The geometric vocabulary was Bauhaus-derived but the purpose was entirely practical.

The Kaiser Idell series that emerged from this collaboration became Dell's most lasting work. The first catalogue appeared in 1936, featuring the model 6631 Luxus table lamp - a piece constructed from hand-polished brass, chrome-plated elements, and hand-painted lacquered steel shades. Other models followed: the 6580 floor and double lamps, the 6781 table lamp, each sharing the same commitment to adjustable geometry and quality materials. When the Nazi government forced Dell out of his teaching position in 1933, Walter Gropius offered him a position in the United States, but Dell chose to stay in Germany. He continued working as an independent silversmith through the war years, and in 1948 opened a jewellery shop in Wiesbaden that he ran until 1955. He died in 1974.

The V&A in London holds examples of his work, including the Type K desk lamp made around 1930 by Chr. Zimmermann GmbH in Frankfurt. Fritz Hansen acquired the Kaiser Idell brand and relaunched the series in the 2010s, bringing models 6631, 6580, and 6781 back into production with minimal changes to the original specifications. On Auctionist, Dell's work appears primarily as lighting - 21 of 31 catalogued items are lamps, with the Kaiser Idell series recurring across Nordic and German auction houses including Stockholms Auktionsverk and Palsgaard Kunstauktioner. Recorded prices in the Nordic market range from around 1,900 to 4,800 DKK/SEK for individual pieces.