French Spelter Cherub Table Lamp
Early 20th Century Unknown Renaissance Table Lamps
Metal
Mid-20th Century Unknown Renaissance Table Lamps
Metal
Early 20th Century American Baroque Table Lamps
Brass, Spelter
Antique Early 1900s French Table Lamps
Spelter
Antique Late 19th Century French Neoclassical Table Lamps
Spelter
Antique 19th Century French Table Lamps
Spelter
Recent Sales
Early 20th Century French Art Nouveau Table Lamps
Spelter
Vintage 1980s French Table Lamps
Spelter
Antique 1880s French Belle Époque Table Lamps
Spelter
Antique Late 19th Century French Louis XVI Table Lamps
Marble, Spelter
Antique Mid-19th Century French Neoclassical Table Lamps
Marble, Spelter, Brass
Vintage 1910s French Belle Époque Table Lamps
Breccia Marble, Spelter
People Also Browsed
Antique Mid-19th Century English High Victorian Taxidermy
Other
Antique Late 19th Century Italian Baroque Side Chairs
Leather, Wood
Antique Early 19th Century European Rustic Armchairs
Leather, Walnut
Vintage 1950s Italian Rococo Pillows and Throws
Cotton, Linen
Antique Early 1900s European Edwardian Table Lamps
Iron
Antique Mid-19th Century Portuguese Baroque Chairs
Giltwood
Antique 17th Century Spanish Moorish Cabinets
Brass, Wrought Iron
Antique 16th Century French Renaissance Armchairs
Silk, Walnut
Antique 18th Century Italian Baroque Center Tables
Fruitwood, Walnut
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Marble, Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Baroque Table Lamps
Other
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Marble, Bronze
Antique 19th Century French Louis XVI Table Lamps
Bronze
Vintage 1920s Chinese Chinese and East Asian Rugs
Wool
Antique Early 18th Century English Baroque Candlesticks
Brass
Antique Mid-17th Century French Baroque Dining Room Tables
Oak
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.
Read More
This 1950s Paavo Tynell Chandelier Got a Glow-Up
Commissioned for the lakeside villa of a Finnish industrialist, it illuminated visits with dignitaries.
These Designer Light Fixtures Are Total Scene Stealers
Across New York, there’s no shortage of statement lighting on view.
My Father Was Obsessed with This French Art Deco Tiger Lamp
The 1920s design is a thrilling combination of saturated colors, ancient motifs and modern aesthetics.
Hans Bergström’s Monumental Chandeliers Are Made for Grand Spaces
Designed by a giant of Swedish lighting, the large-scale fixtures bring major drama.
This Paavo Tynell Chandelier Is a Radiant Bouquet
The alluring pendant light exemplifies the designer’s winsome mid-career work.
Ettore Sottsass Captures a Shooting Star in This Rare 1970s Floor Lamp
Before founding the Memphis Group, Sottsass bent the rules of lighting design with the wonderfully wavy Cometa.
You Don’t Need a Fictional Fairy to Get This Real Pinocchio Lamp
Warm chalet style meets cool Bauhaus functionality in Pietro Cascella’s cleverly carved creation.
Why Is Italy Such a Hotbed of Cool Design?
Patrizio Chiarparini of Brooklyn’s Duplex gallery sheds light on the lasting legacy of Italy’s postwar furniture boom.