"Sarsaparilla" Deco Designs Night Light-Bookend #328 / New York /Circa 1980

I picked up this neat little lamp at Volunteers of America yesterday. It has a metal extension on the bottom so it probably could be used as a bookend too as part of a pair. I love the Deco design and the back is clearly marked Sarsaparilla 1980. So it is a reproduction of a 30's Frankart piece. Arthur Von Frankenberg, the creator of Frankart, Inc. created many wonderful "Deco" pieces from sculptures to bookends and lamps. It's unfortunate that there is really so little information available about Frankart. You can purchase a reproduction of the Frankart 1930-31 catalog online from PennyLane.com. There are some very beautiful pieces in this amazing collection (www.decollector.com ) along with catalog pages. In the Frankart reproduction market the largest was Sarsaparilla Deco Designs, started by Les Sackin in 1976 and bought out by Appletree, Inc in 1997. Most of these reproductions are clearly stamped "Sarsaparilla". Recently, Les has resumed control of the company, now called Love of Money, Inc. and continues to offer a line of Frankart reproductions via catalog.

Frankart Inc.

Arthur Frankenberg began designing and producing bookends in New York City in 1921. In 1924, he, incorporated under the name FRANKART, INC. As a designer and sculptor, Frankenberg created some of the company’s most stylized Art Deco and Art Nouveau pieces.
After a dispute with his partners in 1930, he left the company, changed his name to Von Frankenberg, and founded QUOIZEL Metal Art Company. He took some of his designs with him to Quoizel, and placed them on marble or onyx bases, as the metal bases were already stamped with the Frankart name.
Quoizel was in business for less than a year, closing in late 1931. Frankart closed in 1935. The bookends produced by Frankart during its brief history are models of simplicity with beautiful lines and contours. They are extremely popular with collectors.