Daphine Wall

Renowned among architects and interior designers for its slender and unassuming table lamps, pendants and floor lamps in brushed nickel and varnish-coated aluminum, Italian manufacturer Lumina has been producing lighting solutions for residential and commercial properties all over the globe for several decades. 

Lumina is the brainchild of founder Tommaso Cimini, a Milanese lighting designer who worked as a technician at Artemide prior to establishing his own firm. In 1975, he created a prototype of a very minimalist table lamp — it comprised little more than an articulated arm, a modest-sized diffuser and a transformer that, instead of being tucked inside the base, was visible to anyone who stopped by Cimini’s workbench to admire his clever fixture. 

Cimini’s idea — “lots of light, not much lamp” — was the catalyst for the Daphine table lamp, a deceptively simple design that debuted at the Milan Trade Fair to considerable critical acclaim. 

Based on the success of the now-iconic Daphine lamp, Cimini formed Lumina in Sedriano, a town in Milan, in 1980. The new decade marked the start of an albeit brief era of postmodern design, which would yield innovative, unconventional furnishings and decorative objects in Cimini’s native Italy from the likes of the Memphis Group and others. Together with several notable figures in the field of lighting design, including Riccardo Blumer, Yaacov Kaufman, Walter Monici and Emanuele Ricci, Cimini’s firm created a range of sculptural fixtures in appealing contemporary styles. 

There were Monici’s Tangram metal and aluminum table lamps, which feature a jointed arm and reflector that rotates 360 degrees. Elsewhere, Kaufman’s Matrix pendant light was made of aluminum and steel with 16 moveable arms fitted with halogen or fluorescent bulbs. In the subsequent years, Lumina opened branches in Switzerland and Germany and collaborated with British architecture and design firm Foster + Partners to create sleek pieces such as the Flo desk lamp, Ilium pendant lamp and EVA glass table lamp.

Cimini died in 1997, leaving Lumina to his son Ettore, who runs the company today. Several Lumina lamps, particularly the Daphine, are held in the collections of museums such as the Brooklyn Museum, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs and more, and the company’s fixtures are sold in more than 100 countries all over the world. 

Find vintage Lumina table lamps, floor lamps and other lighting on 1stDibs.

From the kitchen to the bedroom and everywhere in between, there is one major part of home decor that you definitely want to master: lighting. It’s no longer merely practical — carefully selected wall lights and sconces can do wonders in establishing mood and highlighting your distinctive personality.

We’re a long way from the candelabra-inspired chandeliers of the medieval era. Lighting designers have been creating and reinventing lighting solutions for eons. Because of the advancements crafted by these venturesome makers, we now have the opportunity to bring unique, customizable lighting solutions into our homes. It’s never been easier to create dramatic bedrooms, cozy kitchen areas and cheerful bars than it is today. Think of an elegant wall sconce as functional as well as a work of art, adding both light and style to your hallways, whimsical kids’ rooms and elsewhere.

When choosing a lighting solution, first determine what your needs are: Will you opt for a moody or a bright feel? The room that will serve as your home office will need adequate lighting — think “the brighter, the better” for this particular setting. For the bedroom, bedside wall lamps with warm-temperature bulbs could be the way to go to induce a sense of calm or intimacy. Try to match the style of the wall light or sconce that you’re installing to the overall design scheme of your room. It’s never “just a light.” You should approach the lighting of a room with a mindset that is one part practical and one part aesthetics-driven.

Let 1stDibs help you set the mood with the right wall lights and sconces for your home. Our collection includes every kind of fixture, from sculptural works by Austrian craftsman J.T. Kalmar to chic industrial-style wall sconces, from adjustable painted aluminum wall lamps designed by Artemide to a wide variety of minimalist mid-century modern masterpieces.