Gaetano Sciolari Wall Lights and Sconces
The work of celebrated mid-century Italian lighting designer and entrepreneur Angelo Gaetano Sciolari became widely popular in the United States during the postwar years and strongly influenced lighting makers around the world. The sculptural forms and striking geometric details of his vintage floor lamps, chandeliers and other fixtures fit seamlessly into the mid-century modern and Hollywood Regency interiors of the day.
Sciolari formally studied architecture but also pursued filmmaking for a short period. When his father passed away in 1949, Sciolari took the reins at his family's company, Sciolari Lighting, which had been in business in Rome since 1892. The manufacturer expanded considerably under Gaetano’s leadership. For one, pioneering American lighting company Lightolier, in New York City, began to import the Italian brand’s lighting for the U.S. market, and Lightolier’s star designer, Gerald Thurston, was significantly influenced by Gaetano’s work. In the 1970s, Americans looking to add provocative fixtures created by Gaetano Sciolari to their living rooms could find them in Lightolier catalogs.
Sciolari initially crafted lamps and sconces that bore the hallmarks of traditional Italian design. But during the 1950s, when he would become the in-house designer for legendary Milan lighting manufacturer Stilnovo — one of the leaders of Italian postwar design — he created revolutionary fixtures that endured as his best-known work.
Sciolari drew on a range of influences — enthusiasts see the imprint of Art Deco, brutalism and more in his lighting — and designed futuristic Space Age chandeliers, ceiling lamps and pendants for Stilnovo as well as Stilkronen and S.A. Boulanger that defied the conventions of the time. A dizzying array of materials and finishes characterizes the designer’s work, while geometry is pronounced in each sculptural fixture — there are blown opal glass spheres, polished chrome tubes and brass square bulb holders. These combinations were critical to the development of dazzling lighting that proves eye-catching in any space decades later.
On 1stDibs, find vintage Angelo Gaetano Sciolari lighting today.
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Gaetano Sciolari Wall Lights and Sconces
Chrome
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gaetano Sciolari Wall Lights and Sconces
Crystal, Gold Plate
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gaetano Sciolari Wall Lights and Sconces
Aluminum, Steel
Late 20th Century Italian Gaetano Sciolari Wall Lights and Sconces
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gaetano Sciolari Wall Lights and Sconces
Metal, Chrome
20th Century Italian Gaetano Sciolari Wall Lights and Sconces
Chrome, Metal
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gaetano Sciolari Wall Lights and Sconces
Silver Plate
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gaetano Sciolari Wall Lights and Sconces
Crystal, Chrome
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gaetano Sciolari Wall Lights and Sconces
Steel
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gaetano Sciolari Wall Lights and Sconces
Brass, Chrome
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gaetano Sciolari Wall Lights and Sconces
Nickel
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gaetano Sciolari Wall Lights and Sconces
Crystal, Brass
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gaetano Sciolari Wall Lights and Sconces
Metal
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gaetano Sciolari Wall Lights and Sconces
Brass, Chrome, Steel
Mid-20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Gaetano Sciolari Wall Lights and Sconces
Brass
1960s Italian Vintage Gaetano Sciolari Wall Lights and Sconces
Brass
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Gaetano Sciolari Wall Lights and Sconces
Opaline Glass
1980s Italian Hollywood Regency Vintage Gaetano Sciolari Wall Lights and Sconces
Brass
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gaetano Sciolari Wall Lights and Sconces
Chrome
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gaetano Sciolari Wall Lights and Sconces
Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Gaetano Sciolari Wall Lights and Sconces
Metal
20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Gaetano Sciolari Wall Lights and Sconces
Chrome
