Wheeler Flying Saucer Lamp
Vintage 1950s Table Lamps
Metal
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Brass, Steel
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Metal
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Brass, Steel
People Also Browsed
2010s South African Minimalist Night Stands
Wood
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Metal, Brass
2010s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Club Chairs
Sheepskin, Beech, Oak, Walnut
2010s Turkish Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Aluminum
2010s Mexican Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Art Deco Wall Lights and Sconces
Brass
2010s South African Minimalist Pedestals
Wood, Poplar, Burl
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Organic Modern Cabinets
Elm
Vintage 1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather, Plywood, Mahogany
Mid-20th Century American Table Lamps
Metal
Early 20th Century French French Provincial Decorative Bowls
Wood, Olive
2010s Canadian Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
2010s South African Minimalist Night Stands
Wood
Late 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass, Cherry
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.