Romeo Rega Skyscraper

For his range of sophisticated modernist furniture, Romeo Rega worked with wrought iron, textiles, glass and more, yielding an amalgam of geometric shapes, sculptural flourishes and glamorous sensibility commonly associated with the Hollywood Regency style that remains popular today. For collectors in the know, vintage furniture made by the Italian designer's eponymous company is branded with his iconic double R logo, and Romeo Rega lighting, tables and other work is recognized globally for its seductive materials and dazzling forms.

Growing up in the heart of Rome, Rega apprenticed with a blacksmith and, just like his craftsman father before him, became a master in the skill of working with wrought iron and forging. In 1957, Rega opened his own workshop and began to explore his potential as a designer while collaborating with other master metalsmiths and blacksmiths. The creation of gates, railings and various furnishings led to a pivotal moment in his career — a contract with Italian movie studio Cinecittà. Rega was commissioned to design and manufacture the chariots for the 1959 acclaimed American film Ben-Hur.

In the 1970s, the Rega trademark was put to use and the designer began to mass produce furniture — including chairs, console tables and more. Renowned designers like Willy Rizzo and Gabriella Crespi collaborated with the company over time but the production of now sought-after Romeo Rega furniture ceased during the 1980s.

Among Rega's clients were A-list Italian entertainment and cinema celebrities, and the company’s furniture continues to be coveted by collectors today. At Hudson, New York–based antique shop Regan & Smith, Rega’s work is among the owners’ favorite designs.

Find a collection of vintage Romeo Rega case furniture, seating and decorative objects on 1stDibs.

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.