Joe Colombo Furniture
Italian, 1930-1971
He died tragically young, and his career as a designer lasted little more than 10 years. But through the 1960s, Joe Colombo proved himself one of the field’s most provocative and original thinkers, and he produced a remarkably large array of innovative chairs, table lamps and other lighting and furniture as well as product designs. Even today, the creations of Joe Colombo have the power to surprise.
Cesare “Joe” Colombo was born in Milan, the son of an electrical-components manufacturer. He was a creative child — he loved to build huge structures from Meccano pieces — and in college he studied painting and sculpture before switching to architecture.
In the early 1950s, Colombo made and exhibited paintings and sculptures as part of an art movement that responded to the new Nuclear Age, and futuristic thinking would inform his entire career. He took up design not long after his father fell ill in 1958, and he and his brother, Gianni, were called upon to run the family company.
Colombo expanded the business to include the making of plastics — a primary material in almost all his later designs. One of his first, made in collaboration with his brother, was the Acrilica table lamp (1962), composed of a wave-shaped piece of clear acrylic resin that diffused light cast by a bulb concealed in the lamp’s metal base. A year later, Colombo produced his best-known furniture design, the Elda armchair (1963): a modernist wingback chair with a womb-like plastic frame upholstered in thick leather pads.
Portability and adaptability were keynotes of many Colombo designs, made for a more mobile society in which people would take their living environments with them. One of his most striking pieces is the Tube chair (1969). It comprises four foam-padded plastic cylinders that fit inside one another. The components, which are held together by metal clips, can be configured in a variety of seating shapes (his Additional Living System seating is similarly versatile).
Vintage Tube chairs generally sell for about $9,000 in good condition; Elda chairs for about $7,000. A small Colombo design such as the plastic Boby trolley — an office organizer on wheels, designed in 1970 — is priced in the range of $700.
As Colombo intended, his designs are best suited to a modern decor. If your tastes run to sleek, glossy Space Age looks, the work of Joe Colombo offers you a myriad of choices.
Find vintage Joe Colombo lamps, seating and other furniture for sale on 1stDibs.
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Creator: Joe Colombo
Spider Table Lamp by Joe Colombo for Oluce
By Oluce, Joe Colombo
Located in Brooklyn, NY
The spider table lamp by designed by Joe Colombo for Oluce. This lamp with stove-enameled sheet metal reflector is purposely designed to take a special horizontal spotlight bulb. A p...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Aluminum
$1,722 / item
White Flash Table Lamp by Joe Colombo for O-Luce, 1970s
By O-Luce, Joe Colombo
Located in Rotterdam, NL
White table lamp model Flash designed by Joe Colombo for O-Luce reflects the innovative spirit of its creator. It was inspired by the flash lights used for photo cameras.
The heavy ...
Category
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Metal
Joe Colombo Vademecum Lamp in Red
By Kartell, Joe Colombo
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Scarce Vademecum table lamp, model 4034, designed Joe Colombo for Kartell. The forward-thinking design is intended to be versatile and portable, with a name in Latin that translates ...
Category
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Chrome
Set of Six Joe Colombo 'Chair 300' Wood and Kvadrat Fabric by Karakter
By Joe Colombo
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Chair designed by Joe Colombo in 1965.
Designed by the forward-thinking Italian designer Joe Colombo, Chair 300 is a beautiful example of his functional design sensibility. Upholst...
Category
2010s Danish Mid-Century Modern Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Fabric, Wood
Italian Boby 3 Portable Storage System by Joe Colombo for Bieffeplast, 1960’s
By Joe Colombo
Located in Tel Aviv-Yafo, Tel Aviv District
Created in 1969, Joe Colombo's renowned "Boby 3" portable storage system, manufactured by Italian company Bieffeplast, ingeniously maximizes space with its swivel design. This compac...
Category
Mid-20th Century Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Plastic
Joe Colombo Spider Lamp Red Oluce Made in Italy Early Edition
By Joe Colombo, Oluce
Located in Vancouver, BC
With a lacquered metal base, chromium-plated stem, and adjustable reflector in lacquered aluminium, renowned designer Joe Colombo’s Spider Lamp was...
Category
1960s Italian Space Age Vintage Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Chrome
Bieffeplast Boby Joe Service Trolley ABS, Italy, 1970s
By Joe Colombo
Located in Milano, IT
Office service trolley with compartments and pull-out drawers; Plastic material, ABS.
Category
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Plastic
Joe Colombo Floor Lamp 'Coupé 3320' Black by Oluce
By Oluce, Joe Colombo
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Floor lamp 'Coupé 3320' designed by Joe Colombo in 1967.
Floor lamp giving direct light, metal lacquered base and structure, revolving and height adjustable chromium-plated arc, lac...
Category
2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Metal, Aluminum
$4,325 Sale Price / item
20% Off
Joe Colombo 'Domo' Steel Table Lamp by Karakter
By Joe Colombo
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Table lamp designed by Joe Colombo in 1965.
The Domo lamp was originally designed by Italian designer Joe Colombo in 1965. Back then he designed three lamps based on the same cor...
Category
2010s Danish Mid-Century Modern Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Steel
$845 Sale Price / item
20% Off
Black Vademecum table lamp by Joe Colombo for Kartell, 1960s
By Kartell, Joe Colombo
Located in Rotterdam, NL
Black Vademecum (model 4034) table lamp, designed by Joe Colombo in 1968 and manufactured by Kartell.
The Vademecum lamp is made of a plastic base and a stainless steel arm / shade....
Category
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Steel
Set of Six Joe Colombo 'Chair 300' Wood and Sørensen Leather by Karakter
By Joe Colombo
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Chair designed by Joe Colombo in 1965.
Designed by the forward-thinking Italian designer Joe Colombo, Chair 300 is a beautiful example of his functional design sensibility. Uphol...
Category
2010s Danish Mid-Century Modern Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Leather, Wood
$16,658 Sale Price / set
20% Off
Set of Four Joe Colombo 'Chair 300' Wood and Kvadrat Fabric by Karakter
By Joe Colombo
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Chair designed by Joe Colombo in 1965.
Designed by the forward-thinking Italian designer Joe Colombo, Chair 300 is a beautiful example of his functional design sensibility. Uphol...
Category
2010s Danish Mid-Century Modern Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Fabric, Wood
$9,199 Sale Price / set
20% Off
Flash Table Lamp Model 2207 by Joe Colombo for O-Luce, 1970s
By Joe Colombo, O-Luce
Located in Rotterdam, NL
The Flash table lamp model 2207 designed by Joe Colombo for O-Luce reflects the innovative spirit of its creator.
Flash was designed as a well thought-o...
Category
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Metal
Set of Four Joe Colombo 'Chair 300' by Karakter
By Joe Colombo
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Chair designed by Joe Colombo in 1965.
Designed by the forward-thinking Italian designer Joe Colombo, Chair 300 is a beautiful example of his functional design sensibility. Uphol...
Category
2010s Danish Mid-Century Modern Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Wood
$11,102 Sale Price / set
20% Off
Vintage '300' chairs by Joe Colombo for Pozzi Milano, 1966
By Pozzi, Joe Colombo
Located in Premariacco, IT
Set of four black lacquered wood chairs with gray fabric seat and back, designed by Joe Colombo in 1966 for Pozzi Milano.
Domus 521 on page d/578.
Repertoire 1950-2000 Allemandi on ...
Category
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Fabric, Wood
Joe Colombo 20th Century Pair of Armchairs from the Series “Additional System”
By Joe Colombo
Located in Barcelona, ES
Pair of armchairs
From the series “Additional System”
Manufactured by Sormani
Italy, 1968
From the archives of Side Gallery Barcelona
Aluminium,...
Category
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Aluminum
Mid-Century Modern Italian Lamp Acrilica by Joe Colombo
By Joe Colombo, Oluce
Located in Courbevoie, FR
Joe Colombo, a table lamp, model Acrilica 281 for O-Luce. Joe Colombo, a table lamp, model Acrilica 281 for O-Luce. Designed in 1962, Gold Medal XIII Trie...
Category
1960s Italian Vintage Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Steel
Model 4801 Armchairs by Joe Colombo for Kartell, 1960s, set of 2
By Kartell, Joe Colombo
Located in bruxelles, BE
Set of 2 white wooden armchairs designed by Joe Colombo, Model 4801. Numbered 121. Seat height 34cm. Wear due to time and age.
Category
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Wood
"Spider" Desk Lamp, Joe Colombo, 1960s
By Joe Colombo
Located in PARIS, FR
"Spider" Desk Lamp by Joe Colombo for Oluce, 1965
The Spider lamp embodies the Space Age design of the 1960s. Featuring a practical clamp and an adjustable shade, it offers optimal ...
Category
Mid-20th Century Space Age Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Metal
Model 222 or flash table lamp by Joe Colombo for Oluce, Italy 1960s.
By Joe Colombo, Oluce
Located in Landgraaf, NL
Model 222 table lamp by Joe Colombo for Oluce, Italy 1960s. The model 222 is also known as the MiniFlash and designed in 1968. White laquered lamp and base. The round base is refin...
Category
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Aluminum
Spider Floor Lamp Model 3319 by Joe Colombo for O-Luce
By Oluce, Joe Colombo
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Floor lamp giving direct light. Lacquered metal base, chromium-plated stem, adjustable reflector in lacquered aluminum. Current production originally designed by Joe Colombo for O-Lu...
Category
2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Metal, Aluminum
Spider table lamp, Joe Colombo for Oluce, Italy 1970
By Joe Colombo, Oluce
Located in Torino, IT
Spider table lamp, Joe Colombo for Oluce, Italy 1970
Category
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Metal
Orange Spider table lamp by Joe Colombo, Oluce 1960s
By Joe Colombo, Oluce
Located in Brussels, BE
Joe Colombo designed the Model 293, also known as the Spider, a table lamp characterized by its arched metal stem with an adjustable clamp. Manufactured by Oluce in Milan, Italy, in...
Category
1960s Italian Vintage Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Metal
Coupé by Joe Colombo for Oluce
By Joe Colombo
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Mini coupe table lamp by Joe Colombo for Oluce. Current production manufactured in Italy. Chrome, enameled aluminum. Wired for U.S. standards. Li...
Category
2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Chrome, Aluminum
$2,000 / item
Italian modern Adjustable wall lamp Coupé 1159 by Joe Colombo for O-Luce, 1970s
By Joe Colombo, O-Luce
Located in MIlano, IT
Italian modern Adjustable wall lamp Coupé 1159 by Joe Colombo for O-Luce, 1970s
Wall lamp mod. Coupé 1159 with adjustable dome lampshade in white lacquered metal. Inside the lampshad...
Category
1970s Italian Modern Vintage Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Metal, Steel
Joe Colombo Model #2202 'Coupé' Table Lamp in Black for Oluce
By Joe Colombo, Oluce
Located in Glendale, CA
Joe Colombo Model #2202 'Coupé' table lamp in black for Oluce.
Originally designed in 1967, this is one of the most refined Minimalist Italian designs of the midcentury and an icon for Colombo. A highly adjustable table light, the shade can be rotated up/down and right/left. Executed in a lacquered metal base, chromium-plated stem and an adjustable reflector in lacquered aluminum, this iconic lamp is still made by Oluce in Italy using many of the original manufacturing techniques with scrupulous attention to detail, materials, and craftsmanship.
The Coupé series was initially conceived as a variation of the Spider family, of which it has kept its base and stem. The simple, ingenious mechanism that connects the stem to the head makes it possible to direct the beam in several directions, by moving the dome up, down, and sideways. In 1968, Coupé won the ”International Design Award” of the American Institute of Interior Designers in Chicago. It is part of the permanent collection at both the MoMA in New York and the ”Neue Sammlung” Museum in Munich.
Price is per item. Available to order in unlimited quantities in choice of scarlet red or black. The Coupé is also available as a smaller Mini Coupé 'Model 2201' table lamp, a wall lamp 'Model 1158...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Metal, Chrome, Aluminum
4867 chair set, Joe Colombo for Kartell
By Joe Colombo, Kartell
Located in Neuss, NW
4867 chair set by Joe Colombo for Kartell from 1979. High quality red polycarbonate injection moulding frame. The offer includes 5 stackable chairs.
Quality Features:
very good...
Category
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Plastic
$3,472 / set
Mid-Century Plexiglass White Table Lamp Model ''Acrilica" by Joe Colombo, Italy
By Joe Colombo
Located in Brussels, BE
Mid-century plexiglass white table lamp Model ''Acrilica" by Joe Colombo - Italy 1960s.
Category
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Plexiglass
Joe Colombo Coupè 3320R Floor Lamp in White Lacquered Metal by Oluce 1967 Italy
By Joe Colombo, Oluce
Located in Montecatini Terme, IT
Coupè or 3320R arched floor lamp with semispherical lampshade in withe lacquered aluminum, stem in chromed metal and base in white lacquered aluminum.
Designed by Joe Colombo and ma...
Category
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Metal
Italian modern Adjustable wall lamp Coupé 1159 by Joe Colombo for O-Luce, 1970s
By Joe Colombo, O-Luce
Located in MIlano, IT
Italian modern Adjustable wall lamp Coupé 1159 by Joe Colombo for O-Luce, 1970s
Wall lamp mod. Coupé 1159 with adjustable dome lampshade in white lacquered metal. Inside the lampshad...
Category
1970s Italian Modern Vintage Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Metal, Steel
Flash Desk Lamp by Joe Colombo for Oluce, 1960s
By Joe Colombo, Oluce
Located in bruxelles, BE
White metal lamp. Adjustable in height, length and swivel. Wear and tear due to time and age of the lamp.
For shipping, request us for receive the bes...
Category
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Metal
Joe Colombo Coupè Floor Lamp in White Lacquered Metal by Oluce 1967 Italy
By Joe Colombo, Oluce
Located in Montecatini Terme, IT
Coupè floor lamp with a structure in white lacquered metal, designed by Joe Colombo and manufactured by Oluce in 1967, circa Italy.
Measures: Height: 175 cm
Width: 140 cm
Lampshade diameter 40 cm
Lamp base 30 x 32 cm
Joe Colombo born Cesare Colombo, was an important Italian designer, architect and artist. Renowned for his embrace of modern technologies and for the potential he saw in modular furniture and designs, Colombo created a body of furnishings that spoke to the energy and excitement over the potential of the Space Age.
Colombo was born and raised in Milan. Joe first in a first time decided to pursue an artistic career by enrolling in Milan’s Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera.
But after a couple of years at the Accademia, he transferred to Politecnico di Milano, where he studied architecture and graduated in 1954. During his studies at the Accademia, he befriended artists Sergio Dangelo and Enrico Baj, who had been influential in the creation of the avant-garde Movimento Nucleare, a group whose aim was to transform the art of painting in response to the tensions of the modern nuclear age. Until 1958, Colombo worked mainly as an Abstract Expressionist painter and sculptor and thrived on the Movimiento Nucleare group’s energy and intensity, which fueled in his work a fascination with an almost futurist aesthetic.
In 1959, Joe Colombo’s father died, and he decided to run the family electrical appliance business while experimenting with new manufacturing methods and materials. This new and unexpected experience influenced him to switch from painting to architecture and design, where his fascination with futuristic themes not only remained intact but found a new invigorating venue. In fact, one of his first design projects was a series of installation works made from television sets that were assembled in the form of shrines; the work was exhibited at the 1954 Triennale di Milano. Colombo decided to open his own design studio in Milan in 1962, entering the busiest phase of his career as he designed furniture, lighting, interiors, and glassware.
Also in 1962, Joe and his brother Gianni designed for Oluce the Acrilica lamp...
Category
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Metal
6 Bicchieri Smoke Joe Colombo per Arnolfo di Cambio altezza 12 cm.
By Joe Colombo, Arnolfo di Cambio
Located in Milano, IT
6 Bicchieri Smoke Joe Colombo per Arnolfo di Cambio
Category
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Glass
Joe Colombo Green TOPO Lamp
By Stilnovo, Joe Colombo
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Topo is inspired by automotives in its design. The slits on the shade remind us of the vents on a mid-century sports car.
Arm is jointed and can extend and retract.
Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Enamel
1960, Very Early Joe Colombo Topo Floor Lamp Designed for Stilnovo
By Joe Colombo
Located in Amsterdam IJMuiden, NL
This lamp is part of the private collection of Casey Godrie and is situated in his private house.
Ask him for competitive shipping quotes. His incredible Dune Villa, Amsterdam Beach...
Category
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Metal
set of 6 chairs "Universal" Kartel designed by Joe Colombo - 1967
By Joe Colombo, Kartell
Located in Milano, MI
Kartell's 4867 are chairs designed by Joe Colombo in the late 1960s. From the space age flavor have numerous design tricks such as the leg cylinder cut in half to make them fit snug...
Category
Late 20th Century Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Plastic
$3,965 Sale Price / set
25% Off
Spider floor lamp by Joe Colombo
By Joe Colombo, Oluce
Located in Torino, IT
Spider floor lamp, by Milanese designer JOE COLOMBO, designed for the company O-LUCE.
Winner of the 1967 Golden Compass Award, symbol featured on the lamp.
The lamp is fully functi...
Category
1960s Italian Vintage Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Metal
$1,336 Sale Price
20% Off
Italian Vintage Design Stilnovo Topo Desk Lamp by Joe Colombo, 1970s
By Joe Colombo, Stilnovo
Located in Renens, CH
Desk Lamp designed by Joe Colombo for Stilnovo, Italy. Green enamel shade and arm, marked with the Stilnovo brand on the joints. Lamphood swivels and the arm as a whole.
Measure: Maximum length: 105cm
Excellent condition, wonderful green coloured lamp...
Category
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Metal
Joe Colombo, Desk Lampe, 1974
By Joe Colombo
Located in Saint Ouen, FR
Joe Colombo - desk Lampe, 1974
White
Size: 75 H x 19 x 19
490 Euros.
Category
1970s French Vintage Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Metal
Joe Colombo, Table Lamp "2207 Flash", Italy, 1968
By Joe Colombo
Located in Barcelona, ES
Joe Colombo (1930-1971)
Table lamp model “2207 Flash”
Manufactured by Oluce
Italy, 1968
Lacquered metal
Measurements
16cm Ø x 31 H cm
6.29in Ø x 12.2 H in
Biography
Jo...
Category
1960s Italian Vintage Joe Colombo Furniture
Materials
Metal
Joe Colombo furniture for sale on 1stDibs.
Joe Colombo furniture are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of metal and are designed with extraordinary care. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Joe Colombo furniture, although black editions of this piece are particularly popular. We have 214 vintage editions of these items in-stock, while there is 299 modern edition to choose from as well. Many of the original furniture by Joe Colombo were created in the mid-century modern style in europe during the 21st century and contemporary. If you’re looking for additional options, many customers also consider furniture by Vico Magistretti, Carlo Nason, and Oluce. Prices for Joe Colombo furniture can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these items begin at $176 and can go as high as $22,506, while a piece like these, on average, fetch $1,532.
Creators Similar to Joe Colombo
Questions About Joe Colombo Furniture
- What is Joe Colombo famous for?1 Answer1stDibs ExpertJanuary 19, 2025Joe Colombo is famous for his career as a designer. He died young, at 41 in 1971, and his career as a designer lasted little more than 10 years. Through the 1960s, Colombo proved himself one of the field’s most provocative and original thinkers, and he produced a remarkably large array of innovative chairs, table lamps and other lighting and furniture as well as product designs. Even today, his creations have the power to surprise. Shop a selection of Joe Colombo furniture on 1stDibs.
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