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Memphis Tahiti

Ettore Sottsas Tahiti Memphis Milano Postmodern
Ettore Sottsas Tahiti Memphis Milano Postmodern

Ettore Sottsas Tahiti Memphis Milano Postmodern

By Ettore Sottsass, Memphis Group

Located in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

Ettore Sottsass's Tahiti lamp. Materpiece of 1980s design.        

Category

Vintage 1980s European Post-Modern Table Lamps

Materials

Stainless Steel

Memphis Milano Tahiti Lamp by Ettore Sottsass
Memphis Milano Tahiti Lamp by Ettore Sottsass

Memphis Milano Tahiti Lamp by Ettore Sottsass

By Memphis Milano, Ettore Sottsass

Located in Toronto, ON

Tahiti, a masterpiece by Ettore Sottsass, is an ironic lamp with a zoomorphic shape that recalls childhood games: a lamp is hidden in the head, ideal for lighting a table. The base w...

Category

2010s Italian Post-Modern Table Lamps

Materials

Metal

Tahiti Table Lamp 'EU VERSION 220v', by Ettore Sottsass from Memphis, Milano
Tahiti Table Lamp 'EU VERSION 220v', by Ettore Sottsass from Memphis, Milano

Tahiti Table Lamp 'EU VERSION 220v', by Ettore Sottsass from Memphis, Milano

By Memphis Group, Ettore Sottsass, Memphis Milano

Located in La Morra, Cuneo

Here you are shown the EU wired 220v 'Tahiti' table lamp, designed by Ettore Sottsass in 1981.

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps

Materials

Metal

Tahiti Table Lamp (US VERSION 110v), by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis Milano
Tahiti Table Lamp (US VERSION 110v), by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis Milano

Tahiti Table Lamp (US VERSION 110v), by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis Milano

By Ettore Sottsass, Memphis Group, Memphis Milano

Located in La Morra, Cuneo

Here you are shown the US wired 'Tahiti' Table lamp, designed by Ettore Sottsass in 1981.

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps

Materials

Metal

Ettore Sottsas Tahiti Lamp /Memphis
Ettore Sottsas Tahiti Lamp /Memphis

Ettore Sottsas Tahiti Lamp /Memphis

By Ettore Sottsass

Located in PARIS, FR

Tahiti designed by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis Milano is a table lamp made with a rotating head in polychrome enamelled metal on a plastic laminate base with black and white Bacterio...

Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps

Materials

Metal

Ettore Sottsass TAHITI Table Lamp, Bacterio Pattern, Memphis, 1981
Ettore Sottsass TAHITI Table Lamp, Bacterio Pattern, Memphis, 1981

Ettore Sottsass TAHITI Table Lamp, Bacterio Pattern, Memphis, 1981

By Ettore Sottsass

Located in Tinton Falls, NJ

Designed by Ettore Sottsass, the TAHITI is a superb table lamp which strikingly resembles the silhouette of a duck. The black and white, bacterio-patterned laminate base supports an ...

Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Table Lamps

Materials

Metal

Recent Sales

Memphis Tahiti Table Lamp by Ettore Sottsass
Memphis Tahiti Table Lamp by Ettore Sottsass

Memphis Tahiti Table Lamp by Ettore Sottsass

Unavailable

H 27.56 in W 14.97 in D 3.94 in

Memphis Tahiti Table Lamp by Ettore Sottsass

By Memphis Milano, Ettore Sottsass, Memphis Group

Located in Austin, TX

This superbly designed and iconic table lamp by Ettore Sottsass is sure to make a statement on any contemporary desk, console, or nightstand. It features an eye-catching silhouette ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Post-Modern Table Lamps

Materials

Metal

Ettore Sottsass TAHITI Table Lamp for Memphis Milano
Ettore Sottsass TAHITI Table Lamp for Memphis Milano

Ettore Sottsass TAHITI Table Lamp for Memphis Milano

Unavailable

H 24 in W 14 in D 4.5 in

Ettore Sottsass TAHITI Table Lamp for Memphis Milano

By Ettore Sottsass

Located in Brooklyn, NY

The ultimate Sottsass table light!! Anthropomorphic (looks like a parrot) as the head (w/ lamp) swivels up and down. Designed for the inaugural 1981 MEMPHIS exhibition, this ...

Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Table Lamps

Materials

Metal

"Tahiti" Lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis Milano, 1981
"Tahiti" Lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis Milano, 1981

"Tahiti" Lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis Milano, 1981

By Memphis Milano, Ettore Sottsass, Memphis Group

Located in London, GB

For sale an important, highly collectible and iconic piece of late 20th Century design; the wonderful "Tahiti" Lamp, designed by Ettore Sottsass in 1981 and produced by the Memphis G...

Category

Late 20th Century Italian Post-Modern Table Lamps

Materials

Metal

Ettore Sottsass for Memphis Milano "Tahiti" Table Lamp, Italy 1981
Ettore Sottsass for Memphis Milano "Tahiti" Table Lamp, Italy 1981

Ettore Sottsass for Memphis Milano "Tahiti" Table Lamp, Italy 1981

By Memphis Milano, Ettore Sottsass

Located in Naples, IT

The Tahiti Lamp is one of the most representative objects of the postmodern movement. This is a sculptural and playful table lamp composed of geometric shapes assembled in a seemingl...

Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps

Materials

Metal

Tahiti lamp by Ettore Sottsass
Tahiti lamp by Ettore Sottsass

Tahiti lamp by Ettore Sottsass

Sold

H 26.77 in W 15.74 in D 3.93 in

Tahiti lamp by Ettore Sottsass

By Ettore Sottsass

Located in Auribeau sur Siagne, FR

Lampe Tahiti, Ettore Sottsass Memphis 1981

Category

Late 20th Century Italian Table Lamps

Ettore Sottsass for Memphis "Tahiti" Lamp
Ettore Sottsass for Memphis "Tahiti" Lamp

Ettore Sottsass for Memphis "Tahiti" Lamp

Sold

H 25.75 in W 15 in D 4 in

Ettore Sottsass for Memphis "Tahiti" Lamp

By Ettore Sottsass, Memphis Group

Located in Palm Springs, CA

An iconic "Tahiti" lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis.

Category

20th Century Italian Table Lamps

Materials

Metal

Tahiti Lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis
Tahiti Lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis

Tahiti Lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis

Sold

H 26.5 in W 4 in D 15 in

Tahiti Lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis

By Ettore Sottsass, Memphis Group

Located in Brooklyn, NY

His experimental collaborations of the 1960s-1970s led to the creation of the Memphis Group in 1980. The Tahiti lamp is one of our favorite Memphis designs, combining bold colors, pa...

Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Table Lamps

Table Lamp TAHITI by Ettore SOTTSASS, Memphis Milano
Table Lamp TAHITI by Ettore SOTTSASS, Memphis Milano

Table Lamp TAHITI by Ettore SOTTSASS, Memphis Milano

Sold

H 23.63 in W 14.97 in D 3.94 in

Table Lamp TAHITI by Ettore SOTTSASS, Memphis Milano

By Ettore Sottsass

Located in Berlin, Berlin

Metal construction, wooden base with laminate and head with halogen lamp, 'The Duck'. With original metal label. Reference: Fiell. 1000 Lights. 1960 to present. P. 316, illustrated....

Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Table Lamps

Materials

Metal

Ettore Sottsass, Table Lamp Model "Tahiti", Milano, 1981
Ettore Sottsass, Table Lamp Model "Tahiti", Milano, 1981

Ettore Sottsass, Table Lamp Model "Tahiti", Milano, 1981

By Ettore Sottsass, Memphis Group

Located in Barcelona, ES

Ettore Sottsass (1917–2007) Table lamp model tahiti Manufactured by Memphis Milano, 1981 Polychrome enameled metal Measurements 38 cm x 10 cm x 60h cm. 14.96 in x 3.93 in ...

Category

Late 20th Century Italian Post-Modern Table Lamps

Materials

Metal

A "Tahiti" Lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis.
A "Tahiti" Lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis.

A "Tahiti" Lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis.

Sold

H 25.79 in W 14.97 in D 3.94 in

A "Tahiti" Lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis.

By Memphis Group

Located in Macclesfield, Cheshire

A "Tahiti" Lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis. In the form of a bird.

Category

Late 20th Century Italian Table Lamps

Materials

Metal

Ettore Sottsass Tahiti  Lamp Memphis Milano
Ettore Sottsass Tahiti  Lamp Memphis Milano

Ettore Sottsass Tahiti Lamp Memphis Milano

Sold

H 25.79 in W 14.97 in D 3.94 in

Ettore Sottsass Tahiti Lamp Memphis Milano

By Memphis Group, Ettore Sottsass

Located in Fuveau, Provence

Iconic Tahiti lamp by Ettore Sottsass design in 1981 for Memphis Milano.

Category

Late 20th Century Italian Memphis Group Table Lamps

Materials

Metal

Bird "Tahiti" Lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis, Italy
Bird "Tahiti" Lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis, Italy

Bird "Tahiti" Lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis, Italy

By Memphis Group, Ettore Sottsass

Located in Brussels, BE

A "Tahiti" lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis. In the form of a bird.

Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Table Lamps

Materials

Metal

Ettore Sottsass Tahiti Lamp Memphis Milano Italian, Postmodern Museum Provenance
Ettore Sottsass Tahiti Lamp Memphis Milano Italian, Postmodern Museum Provenance

Ettore Sottsass Tahiti Lamp Memphis Milano Italian, Postmodern Museum Provenance

By Memphis Group, Ettore Sottsass

Located in London, GB

Designed in 1981 by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis Milano. Polychrome enameled metal with laminate base. Excellent provenance. Late 20th century piece. Purchased from a prolific ...

Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Table Lamps

Materials

Metal

Table Lamp Tahiti- Ettore Sottsass- Memphis
Table Lamp Tahiti- Ettore Sottsass- Memphis

Table Lamp Tahiti- Ettore Sottsass- Memphis

Sold

H 27.56 in W 13.78 in D 3.94 in

Table Lamp Tahiti- Ettore Sottsass- Memphis

By Ettore Sottsass

Located in Milan, IT

Lamp designed on 1981 by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis

Category

Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps

Materials

Metal

Ettore Sottsass TAHITI Lamp for Memphis 1981
Ettore Sottsass TAHITI Lamp for Memphis 1981

Ettore Sottsass TAHITI Lamp for Memphis 1981

By Ettore Sottsass

Located in Easton, PA

Tahiti lamp designed by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis in 1981.

Category

Late 20th Century Italian Table Lamps

Materials

Metal

A "Tahiti" Lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis.
A "Tahiti" Lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis.

A "Tahiti" Lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis.

Sold

H 25.79 in W 14.97 in D 3.94 in

A "Tahiti" Lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis.

By Ettore Sottsass

Located in Macclesfield, Cheshire

A "Tahiti" Lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis. In the form of a bird.

Category

Late 20th Century Italian Table Lamps

Materials

Metal

A “Tahiti” Lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis.
A “Tahiti” Lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis.

A “Tahiti” Lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis.

Located in Macclesfield, Cheshire

A “Tahiti” Lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis. In the form of a bird.

Category

Late 20th Century Italian Table Lamps

Materials

Metal

A "Tahiti" Lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis.
A "Tahiti" Lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis.

A "Tahiti" Lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis.

Located in Macclesfield, Cheshire

A "Tahiti" Lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis. In the form of a bird.

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Table Lamps

Materials

Metal

Table Lamp Tahiti by Ettore Sottsass
Table Lamp Tahiti by Ettore Sottsass

Table Lamp Tahiti by Ettore Sottsass

Sold

H 27.56 in W 3.94 in D 15.36 in

Table Lamp Tahiti by Ettore Sottsass

By Memphis Group, Ettore Sottsass

Located in RHEEZERVEEN, Overijssel

Nowadays, many Memphis designs are part of museum collections. The hood of the Tahiti is adjustable.

Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Table Lamps

Materials

Metal

Tahiti Lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis
Tahiti Lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis

Tahiti Lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis

Sold

H 27.5 in W 4.5 in D 15 in

Tahiti Lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis

By Memphis Group, Ettore Sottsass

Located in Denton, MD

Halogen bulb included. Metal Memphis Milano identification tag on back of lamp near cord.

Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Table Lamps

Materials

Metal

Ettore Sottsass for Memphis Milano "Tahiti" Lamp, 1981
Ettore Sottsass for Memphis Milano "Tahiti" Lamp, 1981

Ettore Sottsass for Memphis Milano "Tahiti" Lamp, 1981

By Ettore Sottsass

Located in Brooklyn, NY

"Tahiti" lamp designed by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis Milano, 1981.

Category

20th Century Italian Post-Modern Table Lamps

1981, Ettore SOTTSASS, Memphis Milano, "Tahiti" Table Lamp
1981, Ettore SOTTSASS, Memphis Milano, "Tahiti" Table Lamp

1981, Ettore SOTTSASS, Memphis Milano, "Tahiti" Table Lamp

By Ettore Sottsass

Located in Paris, FR

Beautiful "Tahiti" Table Lamp designed by Ettore Sottsass in 1981 for Memphis, Milano.

Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Modern Table Lamps

Materials

Metal

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Memphis Tahiti For Sale on 1stDibs

With a vast inventory of beautiful furniture at 1stDibs, we’ve got just the memphis tahiti you’re looking for. Each memphis tahiti for sale was constructed with extraordinary care, often using metal, laminate and plastic. If you’re shopping for a memphis tahiti, we have 7 options in-stock, while there are 3 modern editions to choose from as well. Whether you’re looking for an older or newer memphis tahiti, there are earlier versions available from the 20th Century and newer variations made as recently as the 21st Century. Each memphis tahiti bearing Modern hallmarks is very popular.

How Much is a Memphis Tahiti?

Prices for a memphis tahiti can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — at 1stDibs, they begin at $1,276 and can go as high as $5,500, while the average can fetch as much as $2,050.

Ettore Sottsass for sale on 1stDibs

An architect, industrial designer, philosopher and provocateur, Ettore Sottsass led a revolution in the aesthetics and technology of modern design in the late 20th century. He was a wild man of the Radical Design movement that swept Italy in the late 1960s and ’70s, rejecting rationalism and modernism in favor of ever-more outrageous imaginings in lighting and furniture such as mirrors, lamps, chairs and tables.

Sottsass was the oldest member of the Memphis Group — a design collective, formed in Milan in 1980, whose irreverent, spirited members included Alessandro Mendini, Michele de Lucchi, Michael Graves and Shiro Kuramata. All had grown disillusioned by the staid, black-and-brown “corporatized” modernism that had become endemic in the 1970s. Memphis (the name stemmed from the title of a Bob Dylan song) countered with bold, brash, colorful, yet quirkily minimal designs for furniture, glassware, ceramics and metalwork. 

The Memphis Group mocked high-status by building furniture with inexpensive materials such as plastic laminates, decorated to resemble exotic finishes such as animal skins. Their work was both functional and — as intended — shocking.

Even as it preceded the Memphis Group's formal launch, Sottsass's iconic Ultrafragola mirror — in its conspicuously curved plastic shell and radical pops of pink neon — embodies many of the collective's postmodern ideals. 

Sottsass created innovative furnishings for the likes of Artemide, Knoll, Zanotta and Poltronova, where he reigned as artistic director for nearly two decades beginning in 1958. His most-recognized designs appeared in the first Memphis collection, issued in 1981 — notably the multihued, angular Carlton room divider and Casablanca bookcase. As pieces on 1stDibs demonstrate, however, Sottsass is at his most inspired and expressive in smaller, secondary furnishings such as lamps and chandeliers, and in table pieces and glassware that have playful and sculptural qualities.

Sottsass left the Memphis Group in 1985 in order to concentrate on the growth of Sottsass Associati, a design and architecture consultancy he cofounded in 1980. 

It was as an artist that Sottsass was celebrated in his life, in exhibitions at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, in 2006, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art a year later. Even then Sottsass’s work prompted critical debate. And for a man whose greatest pleasure was in astonishing, delighting and ruffling feathers, perhaps there was no greater accolade. That the work remains so revolutionary and bold — that it breaks with convention so sharply it will never be considered mainstream — is a testament to his genius.

Find Ettore Sottsass lighting, decorative objects and furniture for sale on 1stDibs.

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.