Angelo Lelii Furniture
Angelo Lelii’s energetic and imaginative floor lamps, sconces and chandeliers often reflected his singular personality — whimsical but practical. He is responsible for some of the most delightfully eye-pleasing but functional works in the history of Italian mid-century modern lighting design.
Lelii was born Paolo Angelo Lelii in the seaport town of Ancona and moved to Milan when he was quite young. Not much is known about his early life — online resources frequently have his last name misspelled “Lelli” — except that he studied at the Superior Institute of Industrial Art in nearby Monza.
While there was no shortage of pioneering work being done in the field of mid-century modern lighting design, Lelii was a visionary whose dream was to create technologically advanced lighting that embodied the simple lines of modern design but would be defined by his own imaginative twists. In 1943, Lelii opened his first workshop in a tiny basement in Monza, under the name Arredoluce. A few years later, he designed the single-light, bent-arm Tris floor lamp. Later that year, he exhibited his Triennale floor lamp at the Milan Triennale VIII and garnered wide acclaim. This iconic, slender lamp features three adjustable arms with enameled aluminum shades.
Lelii’s sculptural fixtures in brass and cast iron appeared in the acclaimed design journal Domus, and he embarked on high-profile collaborations with Italian modernist legends such as Gio Ponti — a giant of architecture and design as well as a founder of Domus — Memphis Group member Ettore Sottsass Jr. and the brothers Castiglioni (formally known as Achille, Pier Giacomo and Livio).
Massive success followed for Arredoluce from the late 1950s and into the 1960s. For Lelii, there was his seminal Stella ceiling lamp, featuring opaque, acid-etched glass globe shades; his minimalist Cobra table lamp, which was one of the world’s first low voltage light fixtures; and his aptly named Eye floor lamp. Lelii continued to oversee design and production at his revolutionary lighting firm until his death in 1979.
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1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Angelo Lelii Furniture
Aluminum, Brass
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Angelo Lelii Furniture
Brass
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Angelo Lelii Furniture
Aluminum, Brass
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Angelo Lelii Furniture
Nickel
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Angelo Lelii Furniture
Aluminum, Brass
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Angelo Lelii Furniture
Marble, Steel, Chrome
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Angelo Lelii Furniture
Aluminum, Brass
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Angelo Lelii Furniture
Brass, Nickel
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Angelo Lelii Furniture
Brass
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Angelo Lelii Furniture
Brass
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Angelo Lelii Furniture
Brass
1970s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Angelo Lelii Furniture
Steel, Nickel
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Angelo Lelii Furniture
Steel, Brass, Aluminum
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Angelo Lelii Furniture
Brass
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Angelo Lelii Furniture
Brass, Aluminum
20th Century Mid-Century Modern Angelo Lelii Furniture
Aluminum, Brass
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Angelo Lelii Furniture
Nickel
20th Century European Mid-Century Modern Angelo Lelii Furniture
Brass, Nickel
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Angelo Lelii Furniture
Carrara Marble, Brass
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- 1stDibs ExpertSeptember 27, 2024The lights that are in the ceiling are called recessed lights. There are two main categories of these lights: can and canless. A can recessed light sits inside a metal housing, allowing you to adjust its angle and control where the light aims. Canless recessed lights lack this housing, so they provide general ambient lighting. Shop a large collection of lighting on 1stDibs.