Designer, artist and architect Eileen Gray was one of the most fascinating creative figures of the 20th century. Her body of work includes lustrous lacquered pieces — her Dragons chair set an auction record for modern furniture ($28 million) at the 2009 sale of the Yves Saint Laurent estate — and sleek chrome furnishings that rival the work of Le Corbusier and the members of the Bauhaus as exemplars of pure, modernist design.
The independent and unconventional daughter of Irish landed gentry, Gray studied painting at London’s Slade School of Fine Art in her early twenties before moving to Paris in 1906 to pursue her artistic dreams. Gray had become captivated by lacquerware after seeing an exhibit in the Victoria & Albert Museum, and in Paris persuaded an expatriate Japanese master of the painstaking process, Seizo Sugawara, to teach her. Within a few years, Gray had become known among the cognoscenti for her sculptural lacquered furnishings, which she incorporated into the homes of interior design clients.
Gray was ever evolving as a designer. By the early 1920s she was creating geometric works that embodied the essence of Art Deco and the nascent modernist design movement. Some pieces — such as her Bricks screen, an assemblage of pivoting rectangular panels — employ the planar forms favored by Gerrit Rietveld and other De Stijl architects of the Netherlands. Others feature the tubular chrome framing used by Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. These include the Bibendum chair — named for the resemblance of its semicircular back and armrest to the character known in English as the Michelin Man — and the adjustable E 1027 side table, conceived in 1927 for the interiors of a stark white villa she designed for herself in the South of France.
Never a self-promoter, Gray drifted out of the limelight in the 1930s. Interest in her work was revived in the early ’70s, however, when the estates of her early clients came to auction. Her original lacquer pieces are the most coveted, but, as the sale of the Dragons chair shows, are rare and extremely expensive.
None of Gray’s designs were made in large numbers until, a few years before her death, she granted a production license. These pieces range in price from $1,000 to $2,500, depending on furniture type and condition. Gray’s work has become iconic of practical and elegant modernist design. Yet, as you will see on 1stDibs, many of her creations have a simplicity that makes them welcome even in a traditional setting.
ClassiCon Tube Light Floor Lamp by Eileen Gray in STOCK
By Eileen Gray
Located in New York, NY
NON-dimmable Floor lamp by Eileen Gray. Chrome-plated tubular steel with black plastic lamp socket for mounting light source. Floor plate chrome-plated metal with push-button switc...
Steel
$1,676 / item
ClassiCon Tube Light Floor Lamp by Eileen Gray
By Eileen Gray
Located in New York, NY
NON-dimmable EXTRA charge for dimmable version. Floor lamp by Eileen Gray. Chrome-plated tubular steel with black plastic lamp socket for mounting light source. Floor plate chrome-plated metal with push-button switch. Felt gliders. Light tube included. Light tube: LED linear lamp...
Steel
Vintage Tube Light Floor Lamp by Eileen Gray
By Eileen Gray
Located in Weesp, NL
Design Icon: The Tube Light Floor Lamp by Eileen Gray for ClassiCon Minimalism meets modernism in the timeless Tube Light Floor Lamp, a sculptural statement piece designed by Eileen...
Chrome
$4,315 / item
ClassiCon Roattino Black Floor Lamp by Eileen Gray
By Eileen Gray
Located in New York, NY
The curved line of the Roattino floor lamp looks as though a snake charmer had made the cable rise and the lamp head bend. An S-shaped bent steel t...
Steel
$4,315 / item
ClassiCon Roattino White Floor Lamp by Eileen Gray
By Eileen Gray
Located in New York, NY
The curved line of the Roattino floor lamp looks as though a snake charmer had made the cable rise and the lamp head bend. An S-shaped bent steel t...
Steel
Balloons Black Floor Lamp
By Stillux
Located in Milan, IT
This eye-catching floor lamp is sure to make a design statement in mid-century modern or minimalist decors alike. The tall, slender stand features eight matte glass spheres, their ba...
Metal
Adjustable Grey & Brass Desk Lamp by Eileen Gray
By Eileen Gray
Located in San Francisco, CA
An Eileen Gray desk lamp for the French manufacturer Jumo from the early 1940s. Adjustable arm and shade in grey lacquered metal and brass trim. Two-light bayonet bulbs with the swit...
Brass, Steel
Helo Black Floor Lamp
By Stillux
Located in Milan, IT
The Helo floor lamp is a statement of refined style, marrying the solidity of metal with a streamlined design that will never go out of style. From the flat, circular base rises a cy...
Glass
Art Deco Desk Lamp by Eileen Gray
By Maison Jumo, Eileen Gray
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This iconic desk lamp has its original pastel blue finish. We have rewired and refurbished the lamp with US sockets and new wiring. The lamp offers a versatile lighting source since ...
Steel
Eileen Gray Jumo Desk Lamp
By Maison Jumo, Eileen Gray
Located in Vienna, AT
This desk lamp was designed by Eileen Gray and manufactured by Jumo, France in 1930s. A brass construction, features a gunmetal effect on the adjustable shade. The lamp remains in...
Brass
1970s Chromed Tube Floor Lamp Style Sciolari
By Sciolari Lighting
Located in Chula Vista, CA
1970s Modern Chrome Tube Floor Lamp 59.5 h x 10.25 diameter base Preowned original vintage condition Refer to provided images.
Chrome
$900Sale Price / set|64% Off
H 20.87 in Dm 12.6 in
Set of Three ClassiCon Bell Pendant Lamps Copper Top by Sebastian Herkner STOCK
By Sebastian Herkner
Located in New York, NY
ClassiCon bell lamps with shade copper top White share 32CM D x 53CM H Sebastian Herkner BRAND NEW SHADES
Copper
White Tatu Floor Lamp by André Ricard
By Santa & Cole
Located in Geneve, CH
White Tatu floor lamp by André Ricard Dimensions: D 23 x W 26 x H 116 cm Materials: Metal, plastic. Available in red or white. This friendly lamp, a revolutionary milestone in ...
Metal
$7,992Sale Price|26% Off
H 83 in W 53 in D 57 in
Serge Mouille - Three Arm Floor Lamp in Black - IN STOCK!
By Serge Mouille
Located in Stratford, CT
DESCRIPTION: This is the most versatile lamp of the Mouille collection. Each ‘chapeau’ shade can be oriented differently. Sculptural in form with three rotating arms, it stands maje...
Aluminum, Steel
Eileen Gray Jumo No.71 Desk Lamp
By Eileen Gray
Located in Pease pottage, West Sussex
Eileen Gray No.71 Lamp by Jumo. This lamp showcases the minimalist, functional elegance typical of Gray. Sleek lines and adjustable elements reflecting her modernist approach blendin...
Chrome, Sheet Metal
Modern floor lamp One Floor Gray
By Stephane Lebrun
Located in Hoegaarden, BE
The One reading floor lamp, designed by Stephan Lebrun, is a perfect blend of modern design and practical functionality. This elegant floor lamp features a sleek, minimalist silhouet...
Metal
Lightsome Warm White Floor Lamp by Warm Nordic
Located in Geneve, CH
Lightsome Warm White Floor Lamp by Warm Nordic Dimensions: D45 x W47 x H132 cm Material: Lacquered steel, Solid brass Weight: 2 kg Also available in different colours. Please contact us. A floor lamp with an elegantly shaped, wide shade by the grand master of 1950s Danish lighting design, Svend Aage Holm-Sørensen. Lightsome is a sophisticated lamp perched gracefully on a slender three-legged base. The generous lighting provided by the large sculptural shade is perfect in the vicinity of a sofa or as a reading lamp next to an armchair. The iconic light holes in the floor lamp's painted metal shade are an extra Sven Aage Holm-Sørensen designer touch. Its gentle idiom and discreet brass details make Lightsome a timeless floor lamp...
Brass, Steel
ClassiCon Tube Light floor lamp, design by Eileen Gray
By Eileen Gray
Located in Delft, NL
ClassiCon Tube Light floor lamp, design by Eileen Gray A chrome Tube Light floor lamp, designed in 1927 by the Irish designer Eileen Gray (1878-1976), manufactured by ClassiCon, Mün...
Chrome
Standing Tube Light by Eileen Grey
By Eileen Gray
Located in Long Island City, NY
Standing Tube Light by Eileen Grey. Labeled Classicon Munich on the underside.
Steel
Italian Space Steel Tube Light Floor Lamp by Eileen Gray for Alivar, 1970s
By Alivar, Eileen Gray
Located in MIlano, IT
Modern production, space age, minimalist and beauty tubular steel and neon Tube Light floor lamp by the genius Eileen Gray for Alivar, 1970s. Floor lamp, Tube Light model, in tubula...
Steel
1927, Eileen Gray for ClassiCon, Floor Lamp Tube Lamp
By Eileen Gray
Located in Amsterdam IJMuiden, NL
Eileen gray lamp. The floor lamp is in good condition, although the tube has some colored spots in the back from burning hours and the foot has traces of wear and some rusty like spo...
Metal, Chrome
Eileen Gray Roattino Floor Lamp
By Eileen Gray
Located in Vienna, AT
Elegant floor lap by Eileen Gray designed 1931 featuring black lacquered tubular steel stem and base. A pivoting action enables various positions of the white parchment paper lampsha...
Steel
1960's Eileen Gray designed Chrome and Fluorescent Tube Floor Lamp
By Eileen Gray
Located in Bainbridge, NY
early 1960's reissue of 1927 designed Eileen Gray Tube Light Lamp on circular Chromium steel base with white socket and new bulb. 20th Century. ...
Chrome, Steel