The lighting maker Arteluce was one of the companies at the heart of the creative explosion in postwar Italian design. The firm’s founder and guiding spirit, Gino Sarfatti (1912–85), was an incessant technical and stylistic innovator who almost single-handedly reinvented the chandelier as a modernist lighting form.
Sarfatti attended the University of Genoa to study aeronautical engineering but was forced to drop out when his father’s company went out of business. His mechanical instincts led him to turn his attention to lighting design — and he founded Arteluce as a small workshop in Milan in 1939. Sarfatti’s father was a Jew, so the family fled to Switzerland in 1943, but after the war — largely thanks to Sarfatti’s insistence on efficiency of design and manufacture — Arteluce quickly established itself as a top firm.
Though Sarfatti continued as chief designer through the 1950s and ’60s, he also enlisted other designers such as Franco Albini and Massimo Vignelli to contribute work. Sarfatti sold Arteluce to FLOS — a rival Italian lighting maker — in 1973 and retired to pursue a more traditional avocation: collecting and dealing rare postage stamps.
Sarfatti is regarded by many collectors as a pioneer of minimalist design. He pared down his lighting works to their essentials, focusing on practical aspects such as flexibility of use. His most famous light, the 2097 chandelier, is a brilliant example of reductive modernist design, featuring a central cylinder from which branches numerous supporting fixtures extending like spokes on a wheel.
Similarly, Sarfatti's 566 table lamp is a simple canister, able to be raised or lowered on a stem, holding a half-chrome bulb. Despite the marked functionality of his designs, Sarfatti did have a sprightly side: His 534 table lamp, with its cluster of rounded enameled shades, resembles a vase full of flowers, the Sputnik chandelier (model 2003) was inspired by fireworks and the brightly colored plastic disks of the 2072 chandelier look like lollipops. No matter the style, Sarfatti concentrated first and foremost on the character of light created — and any Arteluce lamp is a modernist masterpiece.
Find vintage Arteluce table lamps, chandeliers, floor lamps and other lighting on 1stDibs.
Gino Sarfatti design Arteluce 50s monum architectural Illuminated table mirror
By Gino Sarfatti, Arteluce
Located in Biella, IT
A Monumental & Radical Architectural Illuminated Table Mirror by Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce Milano, Italy, circa 1960s Description An extraordinary, museum-quality illuminated ta...
Metal
$3,500
H 13 in W 11.5 in D 6.75 in
French Art Deco Chrome Table Mirror, Adjustable Design, Circa 1930s
Located in Queens, NY
French Art Deco chrome plated dressing table mirror characterized by a piece of round, frameless mirrored glass positioned above a smaller round chrome base with a stylish adjustable...
Mirror
$4,112 / set
H 22.84 in W 13.78 in D 7.88 in
Pair of large table mirrors circa 1980 french design style of Garouste bonetti
By Elizabeth Garouste and Mattia Bonetti
Located in Neuilly-en- sancerre, FR
In the style of Garouste et Bonetti Pair of large table mirrors realised circa 1980 Resin mirror base Original 20th century decoration Height 58 Large 35 cm Depth 20 cm
Resin
1940s French Brass Table Mirror with Spiral Design
Located in Brooklyn, NY
1940s, France. This brass table mirror features a patinated frame stamped “FRANCE” on the back. It includes a hook for mounting on the wall as well as legs and a frame to stand on a ...
Brass
$341
H 13.39 in W 11.82 in D 7.88 in
Vintage Gedy Design Table Mirror - Model "Sylvie" - Red Space Age '70s
Located in Manzano, IT
Iconic piece of Italian design: the articulated table mirror model "Sylvie," produced by Gedy Design. Featuring a vibrant red color and a circular line typical of Space Age aesthet...
Mirror, Plastic
$2,131
H 27.56 in W 23.63 in D 9.85 in
Postmodern Illuminated Vanity Mirror, Unique Piece, France, 1980s
By Ettore Sottsass, Memphis Group, Martine Bedin
Located in SOTTEVILLE-LÈS-ROUEN, FR
A rare and highly expressive postmodern illuminated vanity mirror, conceived as a unique piece in France during the 1980s. Blurring the line between functional object and sculptural ...
Mirror
Illuminated Round Vanity Mirror, United States, 20th Century
Located in New York, NY
While best known for his architectural practice—which played integral roles in the restoration of the Statue of Liberty, re-imagining of the Ritz in Paris, and designing the interior...
Metal
Art Deco Illuminated and Magnifying vanity Mirror
Located in New York, NY
This mirror features a moveable two sided mirror with one side regular mirror and the flip side with a magnifying mirror. The front of the base lights up and the rest of the base and mirror fittings...
Mirror
Designer Table Mirror, Nickel
Located in Miami, FL
Designer Table Mirror, very good quality. Great condition. Mirror is adjustable, mirror does not swivel. Ready for a new home.
Metal
Art Deco Illuminated Shaving Mirror by Le Mirophar Brot, 1930s
Located in Knivsta, SE
Art Deco Illuminated Shaving Mirror by Le Mirophar Brot, 1930s A charming and ingeniously designed illuminated shaving mirror, crafted in the 1930s by the renowned French manufactu...
Brass, Chrome
$276Sale Price|19% Off
H 19.69 in W 19.69 in D 2.17 in
Mirror for table aluminum and wood Italian Design, 1960s
Located in Palermo, Sicily
Particular table mirror Italian design, 1960s
Aluminum
$350Sale Price|46% Off
H 9.5 in W 8 in D 6 in
Mid-Century Modern Rialto New York Illuminated & Magnified Vanity Mirror
By Rialto
Located in Fulton, CA
An illuminated and magnified vanity mirror by Rialto, New York. Chrome pod pivots on a Lucite / acrylic base. Retains "Rialto" label. Excellen...
Chrome
1970 Sergio Mazza by Artemide Italian Space Age Design Table Mirror
By Sergio Mazza, Artemide
Located in Brescia, IT
Table Mirror Sergio Mazza by Artemide 1976 Matt nickel-plated brass Very Good Condiction
Metal
$4,080Sale Price|47% Off
H 3.5 in Dm 25.6 in
Gino Sarfatti Attributed Round Illuminated Mirror, Italy, circa 1960
By Gino Sarfatti, Arteluce
Located in Vienna, AT
Rare 26" Illuminating mirror with bevelled edges by Sarfatti for Arteluce, circa 1964 Backlit round mirror probably by Sarfatti for his own label. It's a very minimalistic bevelled ...
Glass, Mirror
1970s Charles Hollis Jones Design Lucite and Nickel Table Mirror
By Charles Hollis Jones
Located in Las Vegas, NV
Double sided table mirror designed by Charles Hollis Jones. Oval mirror suspended inside a Lucite stand with nickel-plated frame and ball ad...
Metal
$411
H 11.82 in W 11.82 in D 3.15 in
1960s Allibert Space Age Illuminated Mirror with Orange Plastic Base
By Allibert
Located in San Benedetto Del Tronto, IT
An original 1960s illuminated mirror designed by Allibert, exemplifying the playful functionality of Space Age design. This striking vanity accessory is built with a bold orange plas...
Glass, Plastic