Green Hobnail Lamp
Antique 19th Century French Victorian Table Lamps
Glass
Antique 1890s French Art Nouveau Table Lamps
Agate, Spelter
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Early 20th Century Impressionist Portrait Paintings
Oil
Mid-20th Century Czech Industrial Table Lamps
Aluminum, Chrome
20th Century French Table Lamps
Brass
Vintage 1920s Italian Table Lamps
20th Century Benches
Wood
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Chrome
Antique Late 18th Century Chairs
Velvet, Wood
Vintage 1970s Danish Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Brass
Mid-20th Century French Art Deco Vases
Glass
Antique 19th Century Chinese Chinoiserie Table Lamps
Glass
Vintage 1930s French Table Lamps
Opaline Glass
21st Century and Contemporary American Armchairs
Wood
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Murano Glass, Opaline Glass
Vintage 1920s Italian Table Lamps
Murano Glass
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Glass, Opaline Glass, Blown Glass, Art Glass
20th Century American Chippendale Commodes and Chests of Drawers
Mahogany
Recent Sales
Mid-20th Century American Modern Table Lamps
Brass
20th Century Italian Table Lamps
Brass
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.
- What are green lamps called?1 Answer1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022One very popular green lamp is called a banker’s lamp. The first patent for a banker’s lamp was in 1909 and was sold under the name Emeralite, for emerald light. These lights were made by the J. Schreiber & Neffen factory and soon prompted knock-offs called Greenalite, Verdelite and Amronlite. Shop a collection of banker’s lights from some of the world’s top sellers on 1stDibs.
- 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022The 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.
- 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022Banker’s lamps are green because it was believed that the color would be mentally soothing to encourage concentration. It was also thought to reduce eye strain. You can shop a selection of banker lamps from some of the world’s top sellers on 1stDibs.
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