Ingo Maurer
German designer Ingo Maurer (1932–2019) was known as a “poet of light” for how he artfully created lamps that married form and function, from bulbs that soared on goose-feather wings to chandeliers that suspended bursts of shattered tableware like a slow-motion explosion. One of his first lamps, a 1966 design that was merely called Bulb, nested a lightbulb inside a larger glass lightbulb shape, drawing on his connection to German art traditions of reductive forms as well as Pop art and the playful aesthetics of 1960s pop culture. The success of Bulb — its fans included American design icon Charles Eames — led to the founding of his own company to produce this provocative fixture as well as other fantastic lighting designs.
Born on the island of Reichenau in Lake Constance in southern Germany, Maurer apprenticed at a newspaper before moving to the United States in 1960. In New York and California, Maurer initially worked as a graphic designer for IBM and elsewhere before returning to Germany with his then-wife, designer Dorothee Becker, in 1963. The experience that Maurer gained in typography and bold forms was regularly expressed in the lamps crafted by his company, which was called Design M before the name was changed to Ingo Maurer GmbH. The lighting manufacturer is still based in Munich.
Some of Maurer’s pieces were minimal, such as a ceramic table lamp in 1996 he called Broken Egg, which radiated light from a fissure in an oblong shape, while others were monumental, such as the designer’s last completed installation — a colossal chandelier composed of over 3,000 silver-plated leaves — in Munich’s Residenztheater. Maurer was always at the forefront of lighting innovations, exploring holograms, LEDs and OLEDs in his projects. Through his company, the venturesome Maurer also promoted inventive new designers, including Moritz Waldemeyer, whose My New Flame (2012) imagined a futuristic candle with LEDs.
Ingo Maurer GmbH continues to produce the late designer’s distinctive table lamps, chandeliers and other fixtures, including the imaginative Bulb that started it all.
Find a collection of Ingo Maurer lighting designs on 1stDibs.
1960s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer
Metal, Aluminum
1970s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer
Bamboo, Wicker, Paper
1970s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer
Bamboo, Palmwood
1970s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer
Aluminum
1970s German Space Age Vintage Ingo Maurer
Plastic
1970s German Space Age Vintage Ingo Maurer
Plastic
1970s German Space Age Vintage Ingo Maurer
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary German Mid-Century Modern Ingo Maurer
Metal, Iron
21st Century and Contemporary German Mid-Century Modern Ingo Maurer
Metal, Iron
21st Century and Contemporary German Mid-Century Modern Ingo Maurer
Metal, Iron
1960s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer
Cork
1970s German Vintage Ingo Maurer
Bamboo, Paper
1960s German Vintage Ingo Maurer
Chrome
20th Century Hollywood Regency Ingo Maurer
Brass
Late 20th Century German Space Age Ingo Maurer
Plastic
1960s European Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer
Gold Plate, Brass
1980s German Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer
Metal
1980s German Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer
Metal
1970s German Vintage Ingo Maurer
Cork
21st Century and Contemporary German Mid-Century Modern Ingo Maurer
Tin, Copper
1960s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary German Mid-Century Modern Ingo Maurer
Copper, Tin
1960s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer
Metal
1970s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer
Bamboo
1970s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary German Mid-Century Modern Ingo Maurer
Aluminum, Stainless Steel, Tin
1970s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer
Bamboo
Mid-20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Ingo Maurer
Stainless Steel, Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary German Mid-Century Modern Ingo Maurer
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary German Mid-Century Modern Ingo Maurer
Concrete, Stainless Steel
1990s German Mid-Century Modern Ingo Maurer
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary German Mid-Century Modern Ingo Maurer
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary German Mid-Century Modern Ingo Maurer
Gold Leaf, Metal
21st Century and Contemporary German Mid-Century Modern Ingo Maurer
Crystal, Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary German Mid-Century Modern Ingo Maurer
Chrome
20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Ingo Maurer
Wire
1970s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer
Brass
1970s German Space Age Vintage Ingo Maurer
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary German Mid-Century Modern Ingo Maurer
Crystal, Brass
Late 20th Century German Ingo Maurer
Steel
1960s German Vintage Ingo Maurer
Chrome
1960s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer
Gold Plate, Brass
1970s German Japonisme Vintage Ingo Maurer
Bamboo, Paper
1960s European Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer
Gold Plate, Brass
1960s Lithuanian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer
Chrome
Late 20th Century German Modern Ingo Maurer
Plastic
1970s German Post-Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer
Glass, Paper
1960s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer
Gold Plate, Brass
1980s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer
Steel, Nickel
1960s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer
Chrome, Brass
1970s German Japonisme Vintage Ingo Maurer
Bamboo, Parchment Paper
1960s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer
Metal
Early 2000s German Modern Ingo Maurer
Metal
1960s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer
Metal
2010s Italian Scandinavian Modern Ingo Maurer
Linen, Cotton
1960s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer
Metal
Mid-20th Century German Ingo Maurer
Cork
1970s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer
Metal
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