Jean-Michel Frank’s pursuit of elemental forms is perhaps nowhere better illustrated than in his lighting designs. In keeping with his aesthetic of understated luxury, he favored austere, simple shapes in a variety of unexpected materials that he selected for their various textures and colors. For the rock crystal table lamp, Frank left the material in a rough-hewn state. He employed similar rock crystal lamps in a number of his interiors, placing them on side tables and sometimes directly on the floor. He particularly favored rock crystal lamps in the Hôtel Bischoffsheim, the residence of Marie-Laure and Charles de Noailles (1926), scattering the lamps throughout the main sitting room. They also appeared in Templeton Crocker’s penthouse (1929) as well as in Adolphe Chanaux’s apartment (1930). In these interiors, the lamps were as intentionally placed as the rocks in a pitch-perfect Japanese Zen garden. The coarse crystalline forms stand like miniature mountains and inspire contemplation not unlike a Chinese scholar’s rock. In fact, though Frank eschewed most historical references, he was inspired by Asian art and incorporated subtle motifs to that end into a number of his designs, such as the “Pagoda” side table.