When you here the name Barsony in Australia, they are usually referred to as black lady lamps. Some are purely decorative while others were used as ashtrays or vases. The most popular are those that come with the original shade in authentic retro colours pink, yellow, red or aqua, usually contrasted with black. For the collector of antique pieces, the name Barsony is well known.
The company Barsony Ceramics was in full manufacture in during 1950’s to the 1970’s in Guildford west of Sydney, NSW. George Barsony was a sculptor who moved to Australia from Hungary in 1949, and built his business with his wife Jean. Not a lot is known of the history of the business, which found a niche in the ornamental market and, seemingly, did quite well in the 1950s and 1960s. Judging by the amount still around today, the firm was churning them out in the thousands.
Barsony Ceramics also made items under the Venice and Silver Cloud, occasionally you may find a Black Lady stamped Silver Cloud. Barsony manufactured many forms of day to day decor items, which included lamps and lamp bases, candlesticks, figurines, ashtrays, wall hangings, bookends, figure vases, bowls etc. Some items from this genre have been found with "Made in England" stickers, though it appears this was pretty much an Australian phenomenon. Certainly, anything with an intact Barsony label is given a high price in here.
Barsony used prefix markings on their items, for example, F, FL, GL, H, HL, L, U, T, V, followed by a number. The letter marking identified the type of item e.g. H stood for head , HL stood for head lamp, V meant vase, F for figurine, FL meant figurine lamp etc. Usually the pieces are marked on the base and intermittently are companied with a Barsony Ceramics sticker.
Barsony Black Lady figures have a smooth, rounded on all features. Facial features are never well detailed, with lips glowing in red and sometimes subtle colour painted to the eyes. Breasts are always quite round, not pointed, and the same with heads. The characteristic feature of Barsony Black Ladies is the beautiful lively coloured paint to imply clothing and other floral decorations.
In the current boom, some of these lamps have sold for as much as $1000. Even dealers think this is over the top and suggest $500 to $600 is about the limit for even the finest pieces.
It appears the reputation of these Aussie icons has spread around the planet. So if you find one of these fabulous pieces in a your parents or grandparents house, and it comes your way, it maybe worth its weight in gold today.
To find out more about Barsony Black Lady Lamps, go to my Australia Barsony Ceramics Blog. The blog show photos, information about each item and what they have sold for.