Pair Cinnabar Lamps
Vintage 1930s Chinese Table Lamps
Other
Antique Late 19th Century Chinese Chinese Export Table Lamps
Lacquer
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Wood
Early 20th Century American Art Deco Table Lamps
Metal
Mid-20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Table Lamps
Ceramic
People Also Browsed
Early 20th Century French Art Deco Tables
Metal, Iron
Vintage 1950s Chinese Vases
Brass, Copper
Antique Early 19th Century Chinese Qing Table Lamps
Enamel
Vintage 1910s Japanese Table Lamps
Pottery
Antique Late 19th Century Chinese Qing Antiquities
Porcelain
Vintage 1960s Chinese Vases
Brass
20th Century Italian Baroque Floor Lamps
Giltwood
Vintage 1920s Japanese Table Lamps
Bronze
Vintage 1960s American Chinoiserie Table Lamps
Resin, Plaster
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Brass
Early 20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Decorative Boxes
Brass
Early 20th Century Chinese Qing Cabinets
Wood, Lacquer
Antique Mid-19th Century Chinese Chinese Export Table Lamps
Ceramic
Antique Late 19th Century Chinese Table Lamps
Porcelain
Mid-20th Century Chinese Vases
Brass, Copper
Antique Late 19th Century Chinese Chinese Export Ceramics
Porcelain
Recent Sales
20th Century Table Lamps
Vintage 1950s French Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Bronze
Antique Late 19th Century Chinese Chinese Export Sculptures and Carvings
Multi-gemstone, Quartz
Antique 1890s Chinese Chinese Export Table Lamps
Brass
Antique Early 19th Century American Chinese Export Table Lamps
Antique Early 1900s Chinese Table Lamps
Antique 1890s Chinese Other Table Lamps
Lacquer
20th Century Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Acrylic
Mid-20th Century American Chinoiserie Table Lamps
Wood
20th Century Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Acrylic, Lacquer
Antique 19th Century Japanese Table Lamps
Wood, Paper, Porcelain
Vintage 1950s Table Lamps
Early 20th Century Thai Table Lamps
Teak
Vintage 1950s Italian Table Lamps
Brass
20th Century American Hollywood Regency Table Lamps
Porcelain, Wood
Vintage 1930s American Art Deco Table Lamps
Mid-20th Century Burmese Other Table Lamps
Bronze
Vintage 1920s Japanese Japonisme Table Lamps
Ceramic
Vintage 1940s Chinese Chinoiserie Table Lamps
Ceramic
20th Century American Table Lamps
Brass
Antique 19th Century Chinese Table Lamps
Mid-20th Century Table Lamps
Giltwood, Terracotta
Antique 19th Century Chinoiserie Table Lamps
Brass
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
American Night Stands
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.
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Paavo Tynell’s Snowflake Chandelier Warms Up Any Room
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