Lamp Style Noll
Vintage 1940s French Tribal Table Lamps
Wood
Vintage 1940s French Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Parchment Paper
Vintage 1950s French Brutalist Table Lamps
Wood, Ebony
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Cast Stone, Sandstone
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
Metal
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2010s African Arts and Crafts Wall Lights and Sconces
Clay, Earthenware
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount
Steel, Brass
2010s South African Minimalist Pedestals
Hardwood
21st Century and Contemporary British Organic Modern Wall Lights and Sco...
Plaster
21st Century and Contemporary British Organic Modern Wall Lights and Sco...
Plaster
2010s Table Lamps
Iron
2010s American Flush Mount
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Swedish Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Textile
2010s Spanish Country Patio and Garden Furniture
Wrought Iron
21st Century and Contemporary Mexican Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Textile, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Swedish Scandinavian Modern Wall Lights an...
Metal
2010s Austrian Jugendstil Chandeliers and Pendants
Silk
Mid-20th Century French Neoclassical Benches
Bronze, Wrought Iron
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Sofas
Mohair, Oak, Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Organic Modern Center Tables
Travertine
2010s Belgian Modern Sofas
Linen
Recent Sales
Mid-20th Century North American Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
Bamboo
Vintage 1950s French Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Brass
Vintage 1950s French Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Brass
Vintage 1960s French Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Elm
Vintage 1960s French Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Elm
Vintage 1960s French Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Elm
Late 20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Living Room Sets
Leather, Fruitwood
Vintage 1960s French Table Lamps
Wood
20th Century French Brutalist Table Lamps
Walnut
Vintage 1930s French Modern Table Lamps
Brass
20th Century French Table Lamps
Walnut
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.
- 1stDibs ExpertFebruary 22, 20211stDibs sells a variety of high-quality Tiffany-style lamps at various price points. Some are from the mid-century modern movement and others are from the Art Deco period.
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