Robert Sonneman On Sale
Late 20th Century American Post-Modern Floor Lamps
Chrome
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
Steel, Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers an...
Aluminum
Vintage 1970s Unknown Post-Modern Table Lamps
Chrome
20th Century American Post-Modern Floor Lamps
Metal, Stainless Steel
Vintage 1970s Post-Modern Floor Lamps
Chrome
Late 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Aluminum, Steel, Stainless Steel, Chrome
20th Century American Space Age Table Lamps
Metal
Late 20th Century American Post-Modern Floor Lamps
Steel
Vintage 1970s Mid-Century Modern Table Mirrors
Other
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Aluminum
People Also Browsed
Vintage 1970s American Table Lamps
Plastic
2010s Canadian Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
Vintage 1960s Danish Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass, Aluminum
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Chrome
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel, Chrome
Late 20th Century Norwegian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Chrome
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
Chrome
Late 20th Century American Post-Modern Floor Lamps
Metal
Mid-20th Century American Space Age Floor Lamps
Metal, Chrome
Vintage 1970s Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Metal
Early 20th Century American Industrial Chandeliers and Pendants
Hardwood
Mid-20th Century Italian Chairs
Chrome
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome, Steel
2010s Italian Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
Recent Sales
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Marble
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Bronze, Copper
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
Chrome
Vintage 1970s American Modern Floor Lamps
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Vintage 1970s American Modern Floor Lamps
Chrome
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Metal, Chrome
Vintage 1970s Modern Floor Lamps
Chrome, Steel
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Sculptures
Late 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Chrome
Vintage 1980s American Post-Modern Table Lamps
Metal
Vintage 1980s American Modern Table Lamps
Glass
Vintage 1970s Hollywood Regency Chandeliers and Pendants
Metal
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
Steel
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Metal
Late 20th Century American Post-Modern Table Lamps
Metal
Late 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
Metal
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
Steel, Chrome
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
Metal, Chrome
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
Chrome
Vintage 1970s American Brutalist Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass, Steel
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
Chrome
Vintage 1970s Italian Post-Modern Table Lamps
Chrome, Metal
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Chrome
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Marble, Metal
Late 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
Chrome
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
Chrome
Vintage 1980s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Brass
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
Chrome
Vintage 1980s American Post-Modern Floor Lamps
Aluminum, Steel, Brass
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Table Mirrors
Chrome
Mid-20th Century American Post-Modern Table Lamps
Steel, Enamel, Chrome
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
Chrome
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Chrome
Late 20th Century American Post-Modern Table Lamps
Steel, Aluminum
Late 20th Century North American Organic Modern Floor Lamps
Stone
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Marble, Chrome
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Marble
Vintage 1980s American Post-Modern Table Lamps
Metal
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Stainless Steel
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
Steel, Chrome
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Steel, Chrome
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Chrome, Steel
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
Chrome
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
Chrome
Vintage 1970s American Post-Modern Table Lamps
Chrome
Late 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Aluminum
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
Metal
Vintage 1970s North American Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
Chrome, Iron
Vintage 1970s American Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Metal
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Carrara Marble, Chrome
Vintage 1970s American Table Lamps
Aluminum
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
Chrome
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Chrome
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
Chrome
Vintage 1970s American Table Lamps
Steel, Chrome
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Chrome
Vintage 1960s American Floor Lamps
Chrome, Metal
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Stainless Steel, Chrome
Robert Sonneman On Sale For Sale on 1stDibs
How Much is a Robert Sonneman On Sale?
Robert Sonneman for sale on 1stDibs
Though Robert Sonneman was quite literally born into the lighting business, it took working for another celebrated lighting maker for him to land upon the kind of boundary-pushing modernism for which the New York–based designer is known today.
At the age of 19, fresh off a stint in the U.S. Navy, Sonneman responded to an ad for a position working in the studio of George Kovacs on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, where he became the sole employee. “Although my parents were in the lighting business, they came from a traditional perspective, and Kovacs introduced me to modernism,” Sonneman once said. “It was 1961, and I was immediately captured by the movement.”
While working for Kovacs, Sonneman became captivated by the work of the Bauhaus, and he began experimenting with the influential art and design school’s ideas of functional simplicity in lighting. In 1967, he opened his own studio.
Though Sonneman Design Group produced furniture for a brief time, the designer eventually elected to focus on the one category that had always fascinated him; the brand became known for its floor lamps, sconces, pendants and chandeliers that feature unconventional treatments toward shape and balance, often inspired by modern architecture. Sonneman once said of his work: “I saw the lamps that I built as lighting machines that glorified the industrial aesthetic.”
Indeed, in the spirit of Bauhaus functionality — Sonneman has also cited Mies van der Rohe as being an inspiration — the designer’s work takes function-centric forms and motifs and elevates them while prioritizing technology. This spirit of forward thinking continues today, as Sonneman’s brand, renamed SONNEMAN – A Way of Light in 2003, works with LED bulbs to continue to push the boundaries of what functional lighting can achieve aesthetically.
Current-day releases by SONNEMAN – A Way of Light (still overseen by Sonneman himself) feature 95 percent LED lights and include interior and exterior lighting as well as modular suspended lights as an alternative to track lighting. Sonneman’s vintage pieces, however, are still widely collected on the secondary market.
Find vintage Robert Sonneman lighting on 1stDibs.
Finding the Right Lighting for You
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.