Elegant Italian Alabaster Table Lamp Silhouette

Matlight Milano produces minimalist lighting fixtures that fit snugly into any organic modern interior, and its works can be succinctly described by the Italian brand’s motto: “Stone meets light.” When combined with light, luxe materials such as Carrara marble and fine Italian alabaster are expressed to their fullest effect — rendering Matlight Milano’s table lamps, wall sconces and desk accessories not merely functional in a space but unique objets d’art.

Matlight Milano was established in 2014 in Milan — its name “Matlight” is a derivation of “materic light” and borrows from the name of its founder and CEO, Matteo Terragni. Despite its relatively young age, Matlight Milano has gained an international reputation for their decorative lighting, sculptures and other furnishings, which are characterized by their linear silhouettes and rich materials.

Many of the firm’s pieces result from collaborations with talented international artists such as Italian designer Stefano Rubertelli, creator of Matlight Milano’s Magritte chandelier (named for René Magritte), Russian designer Ekaterina Elizarova (named “Best Designer of 2015” by ELLE Decoration Russia). And while Matlight Milano is widely renowned for their lighting, they are also recognized for its sophisticated and shapely marble, granite and cast bronze end tables, sofa tables and coffee tables, some of which owe to a partnership with New York City-based furniture firm Cosulich Interiors and Antiques.

Matlight Milano has exhibited at design fairs and has become increasingly popular among interior designers, architects and collectors of modern furniture.

Find a range of Matlight Milano lighting on 1stDibs.

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.