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Mid-Century Gooseneck Brown Enameled Clamp-On Desk Lamp
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Versatile and adjustable, Mid-Century, black clamp on lamp with brown enameled metal shade. The
Category

Mid-20th Century Dutch Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps

Materials

Metal

Swedish 1950s Articulating Clamp-On Desk Lamp by ASEA
By ASEA
Located in Antwerp, BE
Simple yet elegant clamp on task lamp in greyish white. All details are designed to work perfectly
Category

Mid-20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps

Materials

Metal

Clamp Desk Lamp
Located in Culver City, CA
Clamp on desk lamp with unusual black shade.
Category

Vintage 1930s French Table Lamps

Materials

Metal

Clamp Desk Lamp
Clamp Desk Lamp
H 48.5 in Dm 10.5 in
Industrial Desk Lamp
Located in Culver City, CA
Clamp on desk lamp with original painted shade, articulating head and arm
Category

Vintage 1940s French Table Lamps

Materials

Metal

Industrial Desk Lamp
Industrial Desk Lamp
H 27 in W 8 in D 24 in
Gras Lamp No. 201, circa 1930
By Bernard-albin Gras
Located in Culver City, CA
Gras lamp no. 201, circa 1930. Industrial clamp on desk lamp with three points of adjustment
Category

Vintage 1930s French Industrial Table Lamps

Materials

Iron

Gras Lamp No. 201, circa 1930
Gras Lamp No. 201, circa 1930
H 34.5 in W 5.5 in D 12 in
Gras Lamp No. 201, circa 1930
By Bernard-albin Gras
Located in Culver City, CA
Gras Lamp No. 201, circa 1930 Industrial clamp on desk lamp with three points of adjustment
Category

Vintage 1930s French Industrial Table Lamps

Gras Lamp No. 201, circa 1930
Gras Lamp No. 201, circa 1930
H 34 in W 8.25 in D 34 in
Gras Lamp No. 201, circa 1930
By Bernard-albin Gras
Located in Culver City, CA
Gras Lamp No. 201, circa 1930 Industrial clamp-on desk lamp with amazing patina includes three
Category

Vintage 1930s French Industrial Table Lamps

Materials

Metal

Gras Lamp No. 201, circa 1930
Gras Lamp No. 201, circa 1930
H 34.5 in W 8.25 in D 12 in
Vintage Industrial Entryway Hall Table or Desk with Clamp-On Lamp
Located in Oakville, CT
great console, telephone or writing table. Features a clamp-on goose-neck desk light, 17" in height
Category

Early 20th Century American Industrial Console Tables

Materials

Steel, Iron

Swedish Task Lamps by Glory, circa 1930s
Located in Gloucester, GB
- Telescopic arms - Takes E27 fitting bulbs - Cast iron base - Can be a desk lamp, clamp on or wall lamp
Category

Vintage 1930s Swedish Industrial Table Lamps

Materials

Metal

Swedish Task Lamps by Glory, circa 1930s
Swedish Task Lamps by Glory, circa 1930s
H 22.84 in W 11.03 in D 7.09 in
Swedish Task Lamps by Glory, circa 1930s
Located in Gloucester, GB
- Telescopic arms - Takes E27 fitting bulbs - Cast iron base - Can be a desk lamp, clamp on or wall lamp
Category

Vintage 1930s Swedish Industrial Table Lamps

Materials

Metal

Swedish Task Lamps by Glory, circa 1930s
Swedish Task Lamps by Glory, circa 1930s
H 22.84 in W 11.03 in D 7.09 in
Serge Mouille "Agrafee" Clamp on Desk Lamp, France, 1950s
By Serge Mouille
Located in New York, NY
clamp on desk lamp.
Category

Vintage 1950s French Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps

Materials

Brass, Aluminum

Hala Style Red Aluminum Industrial Drafting Lamp with Chrome Stem and Clamp
By Hala Zeist, Josef Hurka
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Hala style Industrial clamp on desk lamp with red enameled aluminum shade and adjustable chrome
Category

Vintage 1960s Hungarian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps

Materials

Chrome, Metal

Christian Dell Bauhaus Table Desk Lamp Clamp On Gooseneck for Kaiser Germany
By Christian Dell
Located in Chicago, IL
Clamp-on table lamp designed by noted Bauhaus designer and teacher Christian Dell for Kaiser
Category

Vintage 1940s German Industrial Table Lamps

Materials

Metal, Chrome

Clamp on Orbiter Lamp Att. to Kovacs
By George Kovacs, Kovacs
Located in New York, NY
Rare clamp on orbiter desk, task lamp in the postmodern school, attributed to George Kovacs. The
Category

Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps

Materials

Steel

Pair of Beehive Clamp-On Mid-Century Modern Lamps for Bed or Desk
Located in Hamilton, Ontario
Pair of beehive clamp-on Mid-Century Modern lamps for bed or desk. Mid-Century Modern clamp-on
Category

Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces

Three Iconic American Art Deco Chrome Plated Guardsman Junior Lamps by Faries
By Bert Dickerson, Faries
Located in Port Hope, ON
original design including floor lamps, clamp-on desk lamps and tall console lamps all topped with the same
Category

Vintage 1930s American Art Deco Table Lamps

Materials

Brass, Chrome

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Clamp On Desk Lamp For Sale on 1stDibs

At 1stDibs, there are many versions of the ideal clamp on desk lamp for your home. Each clamp on desk lamp for sale was constructed with extraordinary care, often using metal, aluminum and steel. Find 96 options for an antique or vintage clamp on desk lamp now, or shop our selection of 15 modern versions for a more contemporary example of this long-cherished piece. Whether you’re looking for an older or newer clamp on desk lamp, there are earlier versions available from the 20th Century and newer variations made as recently as the 21st Century. A clamp on desk lamp made by mid-century modern designers — as well as those associated with industrial — is very popular. Artemide, Giancarlo Fassina and Michele de Lucchi each produced at least one beautiful clamp on desk lamp that is worth considering.

How Much is a Clamp On Desk Lamp?

The average selling price for a clamp on desk lamp at 1stDibs is $795, while they’re typically $97 on the low end and $10,000 for the highest priced.

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.

Questions About Clamp On Desk Lamp
  • 1stDibs ExpertMarch 22, 2024

    No one knows for sure who invented the desk lamp, as many engineers worked on designs for lamps during the 1920s. Many experts cite the Anglepoise lamp, however, as the earliest iteration of the modern desk lamp. Since its 1934 debut, this ingenious task light has become one of the most celebrated examples of industrial design. 

    How the Anglepoise came to be is the stuff of design legend: In 1932, a vehicle-suspension engineer by the name of George Carwardine joined forces with a West Midlands springs manufacturer, Herbert Terry & Sons, to create a mechanism by which opposed springs would, as Carwardine explained, exert a “unidirectional constant force” on a pivoted lever that could counteract the force of gravity.

    This invention was not destined for an auto but for a lamp Carwardine was developing. The innovation would allow the piece’s articulated arm to be moved with ease to almost any position and remain there. As the product of engineering acumen rather than fashion, the Anglepoise soon became a favorite among modernist architects and designers, who interpreted it as “a machine for lighting,” just as Le Corbusier had reimagined the house as “a machine for living in.”

    The Angelpoise's rivals include the 1930 Bestlite, which was one of the earliest Bauhaus-influenced designs, created by Robert Dudley Best, who had studied under Walter Gropius at the Bauhaus in Dessau. German modernist Karl Trabert’s 1930s desk lamp for Schanzenbach & Co. was notable for its domed shade above a hinged arm.

    Find vintage table lamps and other lighting on 1stDibs.

  • 1stDibs ExpertOctober 26, 2021
    The best desk lamp is a matter of preference — the right fixture can help you work more efficiently while also reducing eye strain. LED desk lamps in the 2700K to 4500K color temperature range often provide a warm and pleasing light under which to work. Shop a collection of antique, vintage, and modern desk lamps from some of the world’s top dealers on 1stDibs.
  • 1stDibs ExpertSeptember 28, 2021
    A good desk lamp is going to make a substantial difference in any home, office or studio. The ideal desk lamp should provide apt task lighting, be easy to use, and also be aesthetically pleasing. Find a wide range of unique and elegant desk lamps on 1stDibs today.
  • 1stDibs ExpertOctober 5, 2021
    There are many types of best LED desk lamps for your home — it's really a matter of preference. On 1stDibs, there are modern, mid-century modern desk lamps and other lighting to choose from.
  • 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022
    British designer George Carwardine designed the Anglepoise desk lamp. Before creating the light fixture, he worked as an engineer designing automobile suspension systems. The first Anglepoise lamps debuted in 1931. You can find a variety of Anglepoise desk lamps on 1stDibs.
  • 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022
    The desk lamps with the green shade are called banker’s lamps. Banker’s lamps are green because it is believed the color helps to encourage concentration and is mentally soothing. It is also said that green helps with eye strain. You can shop a selection of banker’s lamps from some of the world’s top sellers on 1stDibs.

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