Joe Colombo Table Clocks and Desk Clocks
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.
1970s Italian Modern Vintage Joe Colombo Table Clocks and Desk Clocks
Plastic
1970s Japanese Space Age Vintage Joe Colombo Table Clocks and Desk Clocks
Plastic
1970s Belgian Brutalist Vintage Joe Colombo Table Clocks and Desk Clocks
Resin, Wood
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Joe Colombo Table Clocks and Desk Clocks
Rattan, Wood
1970s German Space Age Vintage Joe Colombo Table Clocks and Desk Clocks
Plastic
1970s European Vintage Joe Colombo Table Clocks and Desk Clocks
Metal
1970s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Joe Colombo Table Clocks and Desk Clocks
Brass, Metal
1970s Italian Vintage Joe Colombo Table Clocks and Desk Clocks
Plastic
1970s German Vintage Joe Colombo Table Clocks and Desk Clocks
Aluminum
Mid-20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Joe Colombo Table Clocks and Desk Clocks
Metal
1970s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Joe Colombo Table Clocks and Desk Clocks
Concrete, Brass
1980s Japanese Industrial Vintage Joe Colombo Table Clocks and Desk Clocks
Iron
1970s Korean Industrial Vintage Joe Colombo Table Clocks and Desk Clocks
Chrome, Iron
1980s Italian Minimalist Vintage Joe Colombo Table Clocks and Desk Clocks
Plastic
Late 20th Century Mid-Century Modern Joe Colombo Table Clocks and Desk Clocks
Metal
Joe Colombo table clocks and desk clocks for sale on 1stDibs.
- 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.