Antique Porcelain Handpainted Lamps
Early 20th Century Japanese Table Lamps
Metal
Antique 1880s French Empire Table Lamps
Porcelain
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Vintage 1910s Japanese Table Lamps
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Vintage 1940s Japanese Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
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Antique 19th Century Chinese Table Lamps
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Vintage 1910s Italian Country Pottery
Earthenware, Pottery
Antique 15th Century and Earlier Chinese Antiquities
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Antique 19th Century Chinese Chinese Export Table Lamps
Porcelain
Mid-20th Century Italian Hollywood Regency Table Lamps
Murano Glass, Giltwood
Antique Late 19th Century Chinese Chinese Export Table Lamps
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Mid-20th Century American Chinoiserie Table Lamps
Ceramic
Antique 19th Century Chinese Table Lamps
Ormolu
Antique Late 19th Century French Belle Époque Table Lamps
Bronze
Antique Late 19th Century French Table Lamps
Silk, Opaline Glass
Antique 19th Century Chinese Table Lamps
Porcelain
Antique 15th Century and Earlier Chinese Ceramics
Pottery
Antique 15th Century and Earlier Chinese Archaistic Vases
Pottery
Antique 19th Century Chinese Chinese Export Table Lamps
Porcelain, Wood
Recent Sales
Early 20th Century Japanese Table Lamps
Metal
Finding the Right table-lamps for You
Well-crafted antique and vintage table lamps do more than provide light; the right fixture-and-table combination can add a focal point or creative element to any interior.
Proper table lamps have long been used for lighting our most intimate spaces. Perfect for lighting your nightstand or reading nook, table lamps play an integral role in styling an inviting room. In the years before electricity, lamps used oil. Today, a rewired 19th-century vintage lamp can still provide a touch of elegance for a study.
After industrial milestones such as mass production took hold in the Victorian era, various design movements sought to bring craftsmanship and innovation back to this indispensable household item. Lighting designers affiliated with Art Deco, which originated in the glamorous roaring ’20s, sought to celebrate modern life by fusing modern metals with dark woods and dazzling colors in the fixtures of the era. The geometric shapes and gilded details of vintage Art Deco table lamps provide an air of luxury and sophistication that never goes out of style.
After launching in 1934, Anglepoise lamps soon became a favorite among modernist architects and designers, who interpreted the fixture as “a machine for lighting,” just as Le Corbusier had reimagined the house as “a machine for living in.” The popular task light owed to a collaboration between a vehicle-suspension engineer by the name of George Carwardine and a West Midlands springs manufacturer, Herbert Terry & Sons.
Some mid-century modern table lamps, particularly those created by the likes of Joe Colombo and the legendary lighting artisans at Fontana Arte, bear all the provocative hallmarks associated with Space Age design. Sculptural and versatile, the Louis Poulsen table lamps of that period were revolutionary for their time and still seem innovative today.
If you are looking for something more contemporary, industrial table lamps are demonstrative of a newly chic style that isn’t afraid to pay homage to the past. They look particularly at home in any rustic loft space amid exposed brick and steel beams.
Before you buy a desk lamp or table lamp for your living room, consider your lighting needs. The Snoopy lamp, designed in 1967, or any other “banker’s lamp” (shorthand for the Emeralite desk lamps patented by H.G. McFaddin and Company), provides light at a downward angle that is perfect for writing, while the Fontana table lamp and the beloved Grasshopper lamp by Greta Magnusson-Grossman each yield a soft and even glow. Some table lamps require lampshades to be bought separately.
Whether it’s a classic antique Tiffany table lamp, a Murano glass table lamp or even a bold avant-garde fixture custom-made by a contemporary design firm, the right table lamp can completely transform a room. Find the right one for you on 1stDibs.
- 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022The best way to determine the age of porcelain lamps is to work with an appraiser. While some online resources can be helpful when you’re looking for information about the value of an item, the suggested value you find may not be the actual value of your item, since that will depend on a number of factors, including the shape it’s in. You’ll find expertly vetted porcelain lamps and other decor on 1stDibs.
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