Dual Arm Desk Lamp by Gerald Thurston for Lightolier
View Similar Items
Dual Arm Desk Lamp by Gerald Thurston for Lightolier
About the Item
- Creator:Gerald Thurston (Designer),Lightolier (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 22.5 in (57.15 cm)Width: 23.5 in (59.69 cm)Depth: 11 in (27.94 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Some minor scratches to enamel finish, overall very presentable condition.
- Seller Location:Peabody, MA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU8880796192
Gerald Thurston
As the leading designer at Lightolier during the postwar building and design boom, Gerald Thurston created his clever lighting — sleek floor lamps, table lamps and desk lamps— to suit the American lifestyles of 1950s and 1960s. His designs were at the forefront of the mid-century modern lighting revolution — like much of the visionary work being done at the time in furniture and interiors, Thurston’s fixtures are both elegant and totally innovative, reflecting the exploration of new ideas and new technology that consumed designers of the era.
Thurston eventually led a stellar team of international lighting designers at Lightolier. He was important to the pioneering East Coast-based electric lighting company, and rumor has it that because he sketched every design on craft paper, the manufacturer insured his right hand for one million American dollars.
While enrolled in the School of the Art Institute of Chicago during the 1930s, where he earned his degree in industrial design, Thurston worked as a freelance designer for the Zenith Radio Corporation. Once he graduated, he found a position at the New Metal Craft Company. There he designed custom lighting fixtures and decorative objects for architects and interior designers.
Lightolier enticed Thurston to join them in approximately 1950. That same year, New York’s Museum of Modern Art featured a green floor lamp of his in their Good Design Exhibition of 1950. The sculptural lamps that Thurston created for Lightolier are representative of his interest in Scandinavian modernist lighting as well as the revolutionary designs produced by postwar Italian companies such as Arredoluce and Arteluce. (Lightolier partnered with the latter, and Thurston found inspiration in the work of Arteluce founder Gino Sarfatti.)
During Thurston’s decades-long tenure with Lightolier, he became internationally known for his many designs. His modernist fixtures are characterized by clean lines, vibrant colors and an appealing meld of metals and rich woods. His slender-legged Lightolier Tripod floor lamp, introduced in the 1960s, garnered widespread acclaim, while his whimsical Cricket lamp, with its arthropodan shade and slim brass frame, is wholly versatile — it can be hung as a sconce or positioned on a desk and offers direct or diffused light.
On 1stDibs, find vintage Gerald Thurston lighting, decorative objects and more.
Lightolier
Founded in 1904 in New York and family-operated through most of its history, Lightolier was one of the pioneering American electric lighting companies, best known for its embrace of stylistic and technical innovations.
Collectors focus on vintage Lightolier lighting fixtures produced from the 1950s and into the 1970s, when an in-house design team led by Gerald Thurston — and a stellar cast of international design contributors — created an array of practical yet aesthetically lively table lamps, floor lamps, sconces and chandeliers.
Amidst the post-World War II building boom, Lightolier — the name combines “light” and “chandelier” — aggressively boosted its residential lighting division. Thurston, who was strongly influenced by the sleek designs of Gino Sarfatti and his Italian lighting firm Arteluce, towards simpler lamp designs that offered flexibility of function. His best-known designs include the Cricket task light — a lamp with an adjustable enameled metal hood that toggles on a slender bent-metal base — and the three-legged Tripod floor lamp. At the same time, Thurston had a wonderful eye for talent and sought work from some of the lesser-known greats of the era, such as Paavo Tynell, the Finnish lighting designer, who designed several brass chandeliers for Lightolier with his trademark elegant flamboyance.
And more, Thurston recognized abilities in designers not known for their work in lighting.
Edward Wormley, head of furniture design for Dunbar, produced several noteworthy chandeliers employing canisters and reflective hoods. Alvin Lustig was famed as a graphic designer. His ca. 1953 Ring ceiling fixture for Lightolier had a minimalist techno look some 30 years ahead of its time. But this was par. Designed by Michael Lax in 1964, the Lytegem high-intensity lamp — included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art — features a ball-shaped shade attached with a chromed armature to a cubic base, a form that would be widely copied in the following decade. Chandeliers designed in the early 1970s by Gaetano Sciolari, with details such as acrylic diffusers and vertical, two-bulb arms, would define the look of lighting in their day.
A look through these pages reveals just how astonishingly wide a range of lighting pieces Lightolier produced. The company never flicked off its stylistic switch.
Find a collection of vintage Lightolier lamps and other lighting fixtures on 1stDibs.
- Pendant Chandelier, circa 1950s, style of Gerald Thurston for LightolierBy Gerald Thurston, Lightolier, Moe LightLocated in Peabody, MAAll original colorful three light pendant chandelier by Moe Lights in the style of Gerald Thurston for Lightolier, circa 1950s.Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass, Metal
$2,295 Sale Price20% Off - Aldo Londi for Bitossi, Italy Pair of Table Lamps, circa 1960sBy Aldo Londi, BitossiLocated in Peabody, MAPair of table lamps in unglazed terracotta with wraparound corded details by Aldo Londi for Bitossi, made in Italy circa 1960s. Measure 26" high to top of socket, 34" high to top of ...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsTerracotta, Cord
- Pair of Hollywood Regency Standing Buddha Table Lamps by WestwoodBy Westwood LampsLocated in Peabody, MAPair of standing Buddha table lamps in original gilded finish by Westwood Lamp Co., circa 1950s. Shades are shown for proportion and scale and are not included. Height to top of ...Category
Vintage 1950s American Hollywood Regency Table Lamps
MaterialsPlaster
- Pair of 1950s Heifetz Modern Dancer Lamps in Copper with Parchment ShadesBy HeifetzLocated in Peabody, MAA pair of signed Heifetz table lamps with sculptural modern dance figures in copper silhouette, with original laced parchment shades on ebonized mounts, ca. 1950s.Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsCopper
- Rare Porcelain Advertising Ware Table Lamp, Baltimore, circa 1840sLocated in Peabody, MAA rare porcelain bottle (circa 1840-1850) hand painted with images of stock (jugs, pitchers, tureens and whale oil lamps) sold by the C. Levering Co. of Baltimore, and mounted as a t...Category
Antique 1840s American American Classical Table Lamps
MaterialsPorcelain
- Pair of Antique 19th Century Chinese Bronze Candlestick LampsLocated in Peabody, MAPair of antique bronze work Chinese candlesticks converted to lamps, ca. late 1800s. 38" high to top of finials, 26.5" high to top of sockets.Category
Antique Late 19th Century Chinese Chinoiserie Table Lamps
MaterialsBronze
- Gerald Thurston for Lightolier Double Desk LampBy Gerald Thurston, LightolierLocated in Brooklyn, NYClassic, Mid-Century Modern, double-headed desk lamp by Gerald Thurston for Lightolier features painted metal shades with perforated diffusers and brass accents on a faux wood metal ...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsMetal, Brass
- Gerald Thurston "Cricket" Lamp for LightolierBy Gerald Thurston, LightolierLocated in Brooklyn, NYGreat modernist design, can sit on table or be hung on the wall as a sconce. Pierced pivoting shade allows for direct or diffused light and brightness control.Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsEnamel
- Gerald Thurston for Lightolier Desk LampBy Gerald ThurstonLocated in Riverdale, NYGerald Thurston for Lightolier Desk Lamp from the 1950s in an Industrial green grey enameled sheet metal. Crescent base and sw...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsMetal
- Gerald Thurston for Lightolier Adjustable Taupe Desk Lamp, 1950'sBy Gerald Thurston, LightolierLocated in Bainbridge, NYOriginal condition Gerald Thurston for Lightolier Pivoting Library lamp, 1950's. Featuring an articulating patinated Brass stem, resembling a smooth Bronze appearance, adjustable Tau...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsMetal, Enamel
- Impeccable Extendable Arm Lumilux Study Lamp by Gerald Thurston for LightolierBy Lightolier, Gerald ThurstonLocated in Los Angeles, CAImpeccable extendable arm Lumilux study lamp by Gerald Thurston for Lightolier. Brushed brass base with original one-piece molded shade-diffuser in excellen...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsBrass
- Impeccable Extendable Arm Lumilux Study Lamp by Gerald Thurston for LightolierBy Lightolier, Gerald ThurstonLocated in Los Angeles, CAImpeccable extendable arm Lumilux study lamp by Gerald Thurston for Lightolier. Brushed brass base with original one-piece molded shade-diffuser in excellen...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsBrass