Choose from an assortment of styles, material and more with respect to the black lucite lamp you’re looking for at 1stDibs. Frequently made of
plastic,
lucite and
metal, every black lucite lamp was constructed with great care. Find 283 options for an antique or vintage black lucite lamp now, or shop our selection of 4 modern versions for a more contemporary example of this long-cherished piece. Your living room may not be complete without a black lucite lamp — find older editions for sale from the 19th Century and newer versions made as recently as the 21st Century. Each black lucite lamp bearing
Mid-Century Modern,
Modern or
Hollywood Regency hallmarks is very popular. A well-made black lucite lamp has long been a part of the offerings for many furniture designers and manufacturers, but those produced by
Gérard Haas,
Joseph Malekan and
Karl Springer are consistently popular.
Prices for a black lucite lamp can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — at 1stDibs, they begin at $225 and can go as high as $18,500, while the average can fetch as much as $2,054.
Arguably the world’s most ubiquitous man-made material, plastic has impacted nearly every industry. In contemporary spaces, new and vintage plastic furniture is quite popular and its use pairs well with a range of design styles.
From the Italian lighting artisans at Fontana Arte to venturesome Scandinavian modernists such as Verner Panton, who created groundbreaking interiors as much as he did seating — see his revolutionary Panton chair — to contemporary multidisciplinary artists like Faye Toogood, furniture designers have been pushing the boundaries of plastic forever.
When The Graduate's Mr. McGuire proclaimed, “There’s a great future in plastics,” it was more than a laugh line. The iconic quote is an allusion both to society’s reliance on and its love affair with plastic. Before the material became an integral part of our lives — used in everything from clothing to storage to beauty and beyond — people relied on earthly elements for manufacturing, a process as time-consuming as it was costly.
Soon after American inventor John Wesley Hyatt created celluloid, which could mimic luxury products like tortoiseshell and ivory, production hit fever pitch, and the floodgates opened for others to explore plastic’s full potential. The material altered the history of design — mid-century modern legends Charles and Ray Eames, Joe Colombo and Eero Saarinen regularly experimented with plastics in the development of tables and chairs, and today plastic furnishings and decorative objects are seen as often indoors as they are outside.
Find vintage plastic lounge chairs, outdoor furniture, lighting and more on 1stDibs.
Antique table lamps became a category of their own once electricity moved light off the wall and onto furniture. The form split quickly: task-driven designs like the Anglepoise on one side, decorative ceramic and glass on the other.
Styles to Know
Base material shapes the light as much as the shade does: ceramic and glass diffuse a softer glow, while brass and metal read more directional. Layer the look with a mid-century modern floor lamp for ambient light, or set a pair on a mid-century modern nightstand for a bedroom.
How to Choose the Right Vintage Table Lamp
Buying individually rather than as a pair allows more flexibility when mixing eras across a room. For those shopping by name rather than by shape, the history of the Anglepoise lamp is worth a read. Each piece comes from a vetted 1stDibs seller, with era, designer and condition detailed, and the 1stDibs Promise stands behind every purchase.