Bestlite

Robert Dudley Best drew the first drafts of the lamp that would later become synonymous with his name when he studied to become an industrial designer in Paris and Düsseldorf in the 1930’s. As the lamp was the first example of Bauhaus in the UK, strong arguments were needed before the lamp could be put into production. The lamp was produced by the manufacturing firm Best & Lloyd, founded by Best’s family in 1840. After mention in the prominent architectural magazine Architects’ Journal, the architectural community opened its eyes to the lamp’s potential.

The original BestLite lamp became immortalised during the Second World War when, unusually for a lamp, it achieved the status of a national icon as Winston Churchill had one standing on his desk in his air-raid shelter beneath Whitehall.
Today the brand is still going strong with the original BestLite BL1 still available for purists.