Mid-Century rare early Model 2042/3 Ceiling Lamp by Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce
About the Item
- Creator:Gino Sarfatti (Designer),Arteluce (Maker)
- Dimensions:Height: 11.82 in (30 cm)Diameter: 19.69 in (50 cm)
- Power Source:Hardwired
- Voltage:220-240v
- Lampshade:Included
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1960
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Good vintage condition with trace of age and use No chips or cracks.
- Seller Location:Catania, IT
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU7225235814742
Gino Sarfatti
That a spiky, futuristic chandelier named “Sputnik,” which was highly suggestive of the Soviet satellite of the same name, designed by an Italian engineer could predate the space age and the satellite’s launch by a few decades is the stuff of legend. But in 1939, Venetian-born Gino Sarfatti channeled his obsession with light and expert engineering skills into a design so bold it predicted the future. He would go on to design around 700 lighting products in his lifetime — each table lamp, wall light, pendant and chandelier superb and unorthodox in shape.
Sarfatti’s singular focus on creating opulent lighting designs that were rational in their use of resources makes him one of the most innovative lighting designers in history. He was studying to be an aeronautical engineer at the University of Genoa when his family’s financial troubles led him to drop out and move to Milan to help. During this time, he built a lamp for a friend using a coffee machine’s electric components and a glass vase. This exercise sparked his fascination with lighting, and he went on to found Arteluce in 1939. What followed was a period of working with skilled artisans and tinkering with materials instead of sketching. The self-taught designer soon established himself as a creator of provocative, sculptural luxury lighting. Through the company, he collaborated with some of the 20th century’s most influential designers, such as Vittoriano Viganò, who worked on Arteluce lighting between 1946 and 1960. In the 1950s and ’70s, Franco Albini, Franca Helg, Ico Parisi and Massimo Vignelli all contributed designs.
Sarfatti used resources mindfully and injected functionality into everything he designed. His light fixtures were lightweight, easy to take apart and reassemble and could be affordably repaired. This marriage of utilitarianism and glamour lent Sarfatti’s designs a clean, minimal yet arresting splendor, based on their graphical forms and construction.
After World War II, Sarfatti embraced new wiring technologies and materials like plexiglass, such as his 1972 project with Carlo Mollino that filled the Teatro Regio in Turin with hundreds of plexiglass pipes. In 1973, Sarfatti sold Arteluce to FLOS. His foresight, invention and fearlessness as a designer are revered to this day.
Find a collection of vintage Gino Sarfatti lighting now on 1stDibs.
Arteluce
The lighting maker Arteluce was one of the companies at the heart of the creative explosion in postwar Italian design. The firm’s founder and guiding spirit, Gino Sarfatti (1912–85), was an incessant technical and stylistic innovator who almost single-handedly reinvented the chandelier as a modernist lighting form.
Sarfatti attended the University of Genoa to study aeronautical engineering but was forced to drop out when his father’s company went out of business. His mechanical instincts led him to turn his attention to lighting design — and he founded Arteluce as a small workshop in Milan in 1939. Sarfatti’s father was a Jew, so the family fled to Switzerland in 1943, but after the war — largely thanks to Sarfatti’s insistence on efficiency of design and manufacture — Arteluce quickly established itself as a top firm. Though Sarfatti continued as chief designer through the 1950s and ’60s, he also enlisted other designers such as Franco Albini and Massimo Vignelli to contribute work. Sarfatti sold Arteluce to FLOS — a rival Italian lighting maker — in 1973 and retired to pursue a more traditional avocation: collecting and dealing rare postage stamps.
Sarfatti is regarded by many collectors as a pioneer of minimalist design. He pared down his lighting works to their essentials, focusing on practical aspects such as flexibility of use. His most famous light, the 2097 chandelier, is a brilliant example of reductive modernist design, featuring a central cylinder from which branches numerous supporting fixtures extending like spokes on a wheel. Similarly, his 566 table lamp is a simple canister, able to be raised or lowered on a stem, holding a half-chrome bulb. Despite the marked functionality of his designs, Sarfatti did have a sprightly side: His 534 table lamp, with its cluster of rounded enameled shades, resembles a vase full of flowers, the Sputnik chandelier (model 2003) was inspired by fireworks and the brightly colored plastic disks of the 2072 chandelier look like lollipops. No matter the style, Sarfatti concentrated first and foremost on the character of light created — and any Arteluce lamp is a modernist masterpiece.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Catania, Italy
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 14 days of delivery.
- Gino Sarfatti, Rare Murano glass chandelier mod. 2119 by Arteluce. Italy 1961By Gino Sarfatti, ArteluceLocated in Catania, CTBlack and white lacquered metal, nylon, glasses mod. 2119 ceiling light by Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce. Designed in 1961. Original vintage condition with normal trace of age and use b...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsMetal
- Rare early serie of Midcentury Arteluce chandelier, model 2097/50. Italy 1958.By Gino Sarfatti, ArteluceLocated in Catania, CTMid-Century Modern early serie of Arteluce chandelier model 2097 with 50 lights. Designed by Gino Sarfatti in 1958 and produced in Italy. Labeled with the Arteluce early sticker from...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsChrome
- Stilux Milano, Mid-Century Ceiling Lamp Model Sassari from 60sBy StiluxLocated in Catania, CTVintage condition never used for this ceiling lamp produced in Italy by Stilux Milano. Made from polished aluminum and frosted glass. Original tag. Full working with EU standard, ada...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsAluminum
- Arteluce, Model 526G Table Lamp by Massimo Vignelli from 60sBy Massimo Vignelli, ArteluceLocated in Catania, CTLarge table lamp model 526G (grande) for Arteluce by Massimo Vignelli. Very good and working condition consistent with age and use. Made in Italy during the 60s.Rare 1st edition with the chromed brass base and the old original "Ticino" switch. Full working with EU standard, adaptable on demand for USA standard. Documentation: *Gramigna, G. Repertorio del Design Italiano, 2 vols. p 121, illustrated. *Italian Light 1960...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsBrass, Chrome
- Monumental Mid-Century Brass and Milk Glass Ceiling Lamp by Reggiani, Italy 1970By ReggianiLocated in Catania, CTGreat vintage condition with normal trace of age and use for this ceiling lamp made from brass and milk glass and produced by Reggiani during the 70s. Labeled. Full working with EU s...Category
Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass
- Rare Bulbo Grande Ceiling or Wall Lamp by Quattrifolio, Italy, 1970sBy QuattrifolioLocated in Catania, CTGreat vintage condition with normal trace of age and use for this lamp produced by Quattrifolio during the 1970s. Labeled. It can be used both as a ceiling and a wall lamp...Category
Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsMetal
- Gino Sarfatti Model 2042/3 Ceiling Lamp Arteluce 1960By Gino Sarfatti, ArteluceLocated in Roosendaal, Noord BrabantA rare early model 2042/3 ceiling lamp designed by Gino Sarfatti and manufactured by Arteluce, Italy 1960. This version of the 2042 lamp has 3 clear gl...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsAluminum
- Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce Mod.2042/3 Ceiling Lamp, Italy 1960sBy Gino Sarfatti, ArteluceLocated in Naples, ITRare ceiling lamp model 2042/3 designed by Gino Sarfatti and produced by Arteluce, Italy 1960. This version of the 2042 lamp has a gilded metal frame and 3 glass globes that produce ...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsMetal
- Chandelier #2042/3 by Gino Sarfatti for ArteluceBy Gino Sarfatti, ArteluceLocated in New York, NYThis ceiling light in the model 2042/3 was made by Arteluce Milano, designed by Gino Sarfatti. Condition is excellent and bares the original label of "Arteluce".Category
Mid-20th Century Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsMetal
- Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce Model 2095/9 Ceiling Lamp , Italy, 1958By Gino Sarfatti, ArteluceLocated in Naples, ITCeiling lamp Mod. 2095/9 designed by Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce in the 1960s, the height-adjustable diffusers are made of transparent blown glass and the structure of satinised alumi...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsMetal, Aluminum
- Gino Sarfatti model 2095/9 ceiling lamp for Arteluce, Italy, 1958By Gino Sarfatti, ArteluceLocated in Milan, ITGino Sarfatti model 2095/9 ceiling lamp for Arteluce, Italy, 1958 Original wiring and labels.Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsAluminum, Metal
- Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce Rare Sputnik Chandelier Model 2003By Arteluce, Gino SarfattiLocated in New York, NYDesigned by Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce in 1939, rare 'Fuoco d'artificio' chandelier model 2003 executed in the 1950s, Italy. This 24-light sputnik ceiling light is composed of tubula...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass