Östen Kristiansson On Sale

Swedish designer-siblings Uno Kristiansson and Östen Kristiansson are best known to collectors of vintage furniture for their imaginative lighting and mirrors. As partners, Uno & Östen Kristiansson united high-quality, practical Scandinavian modern design with fresh innovation. 

Uno and Östen Kristiansson were born in southern Sweden. Their father was a furniture maker who owned a workshop — Vittsjo — that was named for the village in which it was located. In 1950, Uno opened his workshop in the same village. He called his company Luxus and brought his younger brother Östen on board as a designer and builder.

Like lots of designers of the era, the Kristianssons favored traditional teak wood but also employed more forward-looking materials such as glass, acrylic, leather and plastic. While their work spoke to the organic forms and craftsmanship that is typical of many Scandinavian modern designers, the brothers created minimalist oak mirrors and shapely pine wall lights — which often featured an integration of rattan — that set them apart from other artisans in their field. 

Around 1966, Östen took over their father’s workshop and renamed it Östen Kristiansson AB. He eventually returned the company’s name to Vittsjo. 

After 1970, Uno and Östen Kristiansson focused primarily on lamps and mirrors. They designed most of these works in acrylic, and wood became more of a secondary material in their composition. Collectors and interior designers continue to prize the many inventive furnishings they produced.

Find vintage Östen Kristiansson table lamps, chandeliers and other furniture on 1stDibs.

The right table lamp, outwardly sculptural chandelier or understated wall pendant can work wonders for your home. While we’re indebted to thinkers like Thomas Edison for critically important advancements in lighting and electricity, we’re still finding new ways to customize illumination to fit our personal spaces all these years later. A wide range of antique and vintage lighting can be found on 1stDibs.

Today, lighting designers like the self-taught Bec Brittain have used the flexible structure of LEDs to craft glamorous solutions by working with what is typically considered a harsh lighting source. By integrating glass and mirrors, reflection can be used to soften the glow from LEDs and warmly welcome light into any space.

Although contemporary innovators continue to impress, some of the classics can’t be beat. 

Just as gazing at the stars allows you to glimpse the universe’s past, vintage chandeliers like those designed by Gino Sarfatti and J. & L. Lobmeyr, for example, put on a similarly stunning show, each with a rich story to tell.

As dazzling as it is, the Arco lamp, on the other hand, prioritizes functionality — it’s wholly mobile, no drilling required. Designed in 1962 by architect-product designers Achille & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, the piece takes the traditional form of a streetlamp and creates an elegant, arching floor fixture for at-home use.

There is no shortage of modernist lighting similarly prized by collectors and casual enthusiasts alike — there are Art Deco table lamps created in a universally appreciated style, the Tripod floor lamp by T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, Greta Magnusson Grossman's sleek and minimalist Grasshopper lamps and, of course, the wealth of mid-century experimental lighting that emerged from Italian artisans at Arredoluce, FLOS and many more are hallmarks in illumination innovation. 

With decades of design evolution behind it, home lighting is no longer just practical. Crystalline shaping by designers like Gabriel Scott turns every lighting apparatus into a luxury accessory. A new installation doesn’t merely showcase a space; carefully chosen ceiling lights, table lamps and floor lamps can create a mood, spotlight a favorite piece or highlight your unique personality.

The sparkle that your space has been missing is waiting for you amid the growing collection of antique, vintage and contemporary lighting for sale on 1stDibs.