Ingo Maurer Lighting
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 Lighting
Metal
1970s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer Lighting
Bamboo, Paper
1960s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer Lighting
Aluminum
1960s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer Lighting
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary German Mid-Century Modern Ingo Maurer Lighting
Metal, Iron
1960s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer Lighting
Gold Plate, Brass
Late 20th Century German Space Age Ingo Maurer Lighting
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary German Mid-Century Modern Ingo Maurer Lighting
Stainless Steel
1960s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer Lighting
Metal, Aluminum
1980s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer Lighting
Steel, Nickel
21st Century and Contemporary German Mid-Century Modern Ingo Maurer Lighting
Iron, Metal
1960s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer Lighting
Brass, Chrome
Mid-20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Ingo Maurer Lighting
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary German Mid-Century Modern Ingo Maurer Lighting
Concrete, Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary German Mid-Century Modern Ingo Maurer Lighting
Tin, Copper
21st Century and Contemporary German Mid-Century Modern Ingo Maurer Lighting
Gold Leaf, Metal
21st Century and Contemporary German Mid-Century Modern Ingo Maurer Lighting
Aluminum, Stainless Steel, Tin
21st Century and Contemporary German Mid-Century Modern Ingo Maurer Lighting
Copper, Tin
21st Century and Contemporary German Mid-Century Modern Ingo Maurer Lighting
Chrome
20th Century Hollywood Regency Ingo Maurer Lighting
Brass
1960s German Vintage Ingo Maurer Lighting
Chrome
1980s German Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer Lighting
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary German Mid-Century Modern Ingo Maurer Lighting
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary German Mid-Century Modern Ingo Maurer Lighting
Crystal, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary German Mid-Century Modern Ingo Maurer Lighting
Crystal, Chrome
20th Century German Japonisme Ingo Maurer Lighting
Bamboo, Wicker, Parchment Paper
1970s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer Lighting
Metal
1960s German Vintage Ingo Maurer Lighting
Chrome
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer Lighting
Steel, Chrome
1960s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer Lighting
Metal
1960s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer Lighting
Metal
1960s European Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer Lighting
Gold Plate, Brass
1960s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer Lighting
Chrome
Early 2000s German Modern Ingo Maurer Lighting
Gold Leaf
1960s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer Lighting
Chrome
1960s German Vintage Ingo Maurer Lighting
Milk Glass
Late 20th Century German Post-Modern Ingo Maurer Lighting
Aluminum
1970s European Bohemian Vintage Ingo Maurer Lighting
Steel
Mid-20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Ingo Maurer Lighting
Chrome
1960s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer Lighting
Chrome
1960s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer Lighting
Chrome
Mid-20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Ingo Maurer Lighting
Fabric, Glass
Late 20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Ingo Maurer Lighting
Chrome
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer Lighting
Metal, Chrome
1960s European Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer Lighting
Brass
1960s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer Lighting
Metal
1970s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer Lighting
Metal
1960s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer Lighting
Glass
1970s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer Lighting
Chrome
1970s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer Lighting
Metal
1960s German Space Age Vintage Ingo Maurer Lighting
Metal
1970s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer Lighting
Paper, Bamboo
1990s German Mid-Century Modern Ingo Maurer Lighting
Metal, Wire
1990s German Mid-Century Modern Ingo Maurer Lighting
Aluminum, Steel
1970s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer Lighting
Bamboo, Paper
1970s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer Lighting
Bamboo, Palmwood
20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Ingo Maurer Lighting
Wire
1980s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ingo Maurer Lighting
Metal