Mid Century Italian Light
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Murano Glass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Metal, Brass
Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Blown Glass
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Metal, Copper
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
Iron
Vintage 1960s Italian Flush Mount
Metal
Vintage 1960s Italian Chandeliers and Pendants
Bronze
Vintage 1950s Italian Chandeliers and Pendants
Blown Glass
Vintage 1960s Italian Chandeliers and Pendants
Glass, Art Glass
Mid-20th Century Italian Brutalist Wall Lights and Sconces
Wrought Iron
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Metal
Mid-20th Century Italian More Lighting
Brass
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount
Gold Leaf
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Steel
Antique Mid-19th Century Italian Baroque Chandeliers and Pendants
Wrought Iron
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Blown Glass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Metal
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Chrome
Antique Mid-19th Century Italian Chandeliers and Pendants
Crystal, Brass
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount
Murano Glass
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Sofas
Fabric
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Murano Glass
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lanterns
Metal, Nickel
Vintage 1950s Italian Vases
Glass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern More Lighting
Brass
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
Chrome
2010s European Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
Vintage 1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Steel
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Mirrors
Crystal, Steel
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern More Lighting
Brass
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Chrome
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Metal
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Metal
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
Sheet Metal, Aluminum, Chrome
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Glass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Metal
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Metal
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Metal, Brass
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Metal
Mid-20th Century Italian Chandeliers and Pendants
Glass
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Crystal, Metal
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Brass
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Murano Glass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Iron
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Nickel
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Chrome
Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern More Lighting
Brass
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Crystal, Brass
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Metal
Mid-20th Century Italian Wall Lights and Sconces
Crystal, Metal
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Chrome, Brass
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Chrome
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Chrome
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Blown Glass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
Steel
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Mid Century Italian Light For Sale on 1stDibs
How Much is a Mid Century Italian Light?
A Close Look at Mid-Century Modern Furniture
Organically shaped, clean-lined and elegantly simple are three terms that well describe mid-century modern American furniture. The style, which emerged primarily in the years following World War II, is characterized by pieces that were conceived and made in an energetic, optimistic spirit by creators who believed that good design was an essential part of good living.
Postwar American architects and designers were animated by new ideas and new technology. The lean, functionalist “International Style” architecture of Le Corbusier and Bauhaus eminences such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius had been promoted in the United States during the ’30s by Philip Johnson and others. New building techniques, such as “post-and-beam” construction, allowed the International-style schemes to be realized on a small scale, in open-plan houses with long walls of glass.
Materials developed for wartime use became available for domestic goods and were incorporated into mid-century modern furniture designs. Charles and Ray Eames and Eero Saarinen, who had experimented extensively with molded plywood, eagerly embraced fiberglass for, respectively, pieces such as the La Chaise and the Womb chair. George Nelson and his design team created Bubble lamp shades using a new translucent polymer skin. Harry Bertoia and Isamu Noguchi devised chairs and tables built of wire mesh and wire struts. Materials were re-purposed: the Danish-born designer Jens Risom created a line of chairs that used surplus parachute straps for webbed seats and backrests.
As the demand for casual, uncluttered furnishings grew, more mid-century designers caught the spirit.
Classically-oriented creators such as Edward Wormley, house designer for Dunbar Inc., offered such pieces as the sinuous Listen to Me chaise; the British expatriate T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings switched gears, creating items such as the tiered, biomorphic Mesa table. There were Young Turks such as Paul McCobb — who designed holistic groups of sleek, blonde-wood furniture — and Milo Baughman, who espoused a West Coast aesthetic in lushly upholstered chairs and sofas with angular steel frames.
As the collection of vintage mid-century modern American furniture on 1stDibs demonstrates, this period saw one of the most delightful and dramatic flowerings of creativity in design history.
Finding the Right Lighting for You
The right table lamp, outwardly sculptural chandelier or understated wall pendant can work wonders for your home. While we’re indebted to thinkers like Thomas Edison for critically important advancements in lighting and electricity, we’re still finding new ways to customize illumination to fit our personal spaces all these years later.
Today, lighting designers like the self-taught Bec Brittain have used the flexible structure of LEDs to craft glamorous solutions by working with what is typically considered a harsh lighting source. By integrating glass and mirrors, reflection can be used to soften the glow from LEDs and warmly welcome light into any space.
Although contemporary innovators continue to impress, some of the classics can’t be beat.
Just as gazing at the stars allows you to glimpse the universe’s past, vintage chandeliers like those designed by Gino Sarfatti and J. & L. Lobmeyr, for example, put on a similarly stunning show, each with a rich story to tell. As dazzling as it is, the Arco lamp, on the other hand, prioritizes functionality — it’s wholly mobile, no drilling required. Designed in 1962 by architect-product designers Achille & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, the piece takes the traditional form of a streetlamp and creates an elegant, arching floor fixture for at-home use. There is no shortage of modernist lighting similarly prized by collectors and casual enthusiasts alike — the Tripod floor lamp by T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, Greta Magnusson-Grossman's sleek and minimalist Grasshopper lamps and, of course, the wealth of postwar experimental lighting that emerged from Italian artisans at Arredoluce, FLOS and many more are hallmarks in illumination innovation.
With decades of design evolution behind it, home lighting is no longer just practical. Crystalline shaping by designers like Gabriel Scott turns every lighting apparatus into a luxury accessory. A new installation doesn’t merely showcase a space; carefully chosen ceiling lights, table lamps and floor lamps can create a mood, spotlight a favorite piece or highlight your unique personality.
The sparkle that your space has been missing is waiting for you amid the growing collection of antique, vintage and contemporary lighting on 1stDibs.
Read More
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