Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

MID-CENTURY MODERN STYLE

Organically shaped, clean-lined and elegantly simple are three terms that well describe vintage mid-century modern furniture. The style, which emerged primarily in the years following World War II, is characterized by pieces that were conceived and made in an energetic, optimistic spirit by creators who believed that good design was an essential part of good living.

ORIGINS OF MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGN

Emerged during the mid-20th century
Informed by European modernism, Bauhaus, International style, Scandinavian modernism and Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture
A heyday of innovation in postwar America
Experimentation with new ideas, new materials and new forms flourished in Scandinavia, Italy, the former Czechoslovakia and elsewhere in Europe

CHARACTERISTICS OF MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGN

Simplicity, organic forms, clean lines
A blend of neutral and bold Pop art colors
Use of natural and man-made materials — alluring woods such as teak, rosewood and oak; steel, fiberglass and molded plywood
Light-filled spaces with colorful upholstery
Glass walls and an emphasis on the outdoors
Promotion of functionality

MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW

Charles and Ray Eames
Eero Saarinen
Milo Baughman
Florence Knoll
Harry Bertoia
Isamu Noguchi
George Nelson
Danish modernists Hans Wegner and Arne Jacobsen, whose emphasis on natural materials and craftsmanship influenced American designers and vice versa

ICONIC MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGNS

VINTAGE MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS

The mid-century modern era saw leagues of postwar American architects and designers animated by new ideas and new technology. The lean, functionalist International-style architecture of Le Corbusier and Bauhaus eminences Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius had been promoted in the United States during the 1930s by Philip Johnson and others. New building techniques, such as “post-and-beam” construction, allowed the International-style schemes to be realized on a small scale in open-plan houses with long walls of glass.

Materials developed for wartime use became available for domestic goods and were incorporated into mid-century modern furniture designs. Charles and Ray Eames and Eero Saarinen, who had experimented extensively with molded plywood, eagerly embraced fiberglass for pieces such as the La Chaise and the Womb chair, respectively.

Architect, writer and designer George Nelson created with his team shades for the Bubble lamp using a new translucent polymer skin and, as design director at Herman Miller, recruited the Eameses, Alexander Girard and others for projects at the legendary Michigan furniture manufacturer.

Harry Bertoia and Isamu Noguchi devised chairs and tables built of wire mesh and wire struts. Materials were repurposed too: The Danish-born designer Jens Risom created a line of chairs using surplus parachute straps for webbed seats and backrests.

The Risom lounge chair was among the first pieces of furniture commissioned and produced by celebrated manufacturer Knoll, a chief influencer in the rise of modern design in the United States, thanks to the work of Florence Knoll, the pioneering architect and designer who made the firm a leader in its field. The seating that Knoll created for office spaces — as well as pieces designed by Florence initially for commercial clients — soon became desirable for the home.

As the demand for casual, uncluttered furnishings grew, more mid-century furniture designers caught the spirit.

Classically oriented creators such as Edward Wormley, house designer for Dunbar Inc., offered such pieces as the sinuous Listen to Me chaise; the British expatriate T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings switched gears, creating items such as the tiered, biomorphic Mesa table. There were Young Turks such as Paul McCobb, who designed holistic groups of sleek, blond wood furniture, and Milo Baughman, who espoused a West Coast aesthetic in minimalist teak dining tables and lushly upholstered chairs and sofas with angular steel frames.

Generations turn over, and mid-century modern remains arguably the most popular style going. As the collection of vintage mid-century modern chairs, dressers, coffee tables and other furniture for the living room, dining room, bedroom and elsewhere on 1stDibs demonstrates, this period saw one of the most delightful and dramatic flowerings of creativity in design history.

Style: Mid-Century Modern

Creator: Stilnovo

Stilnovo Rare Floor Lamp in Brass Italy, 1950s Publisched

Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

Stilnovo Rare Floor Lamp in Brass Italy, 1950s Publisched

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

'Galassia' Brass and Glass Floor Lamp for Stilnovo

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

1950 Floor Lamps Italian Design by Stilnovo Black Lacquer Round Cream Shade

2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

'Valigia' Memphis Style Floor or Table Lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Stilnovo

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

'Galassia' Brass and Glass Floor Lamp for Stilnovo

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

1950 Floor Lamps Italian Design by Stilnovo Black Lacquer Round Cream Shade

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

1950s by Stilnovo Italian Midcentury Design Glass Brass Green Floor Lamp

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

Model 4052 Floor Lamp by Stilnovo

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

Stilnovo Mid-Century Modern Italian Brass and Opaline Glass Floor Lamp, 1950s

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

Stilnovo Floor Lamp 1950

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

1950s Stilnovo Floor Lamp with Two Opaline Vases, Italy

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

Stilnovo Alberello floor lamp marble brass Italy 1960

1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

Silvio Carpani Black & red Aluminium Italian Zagar Floor Lamp for Stilnovo, 1978

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

1950s Stilnovo tripod floor lamp

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

Joe Colombo 'Topo' Articulating Floor Lamp for Stilnovo in Black

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

Mid Century Italian Rare Floor Lamp By Stilnovo 1950s

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

50s Floor Lamp Brass Enamelled Red and Cream Shades Italian Design by Stilnovo

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

Alberello Floor Lamp by Stilnovo, circa 1960

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

Floor Lamp by Stilnovo

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

Stilnovo rare lamp with colored brass stem and three arms

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

Stilnovo Adjustable Floor Lamp, Italy, 1950s

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

Stilnovo Mid Century Modern Italian Brass And Colored Glass Floor Lamp, 1950s

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

Joe Colombo 'Triedro' Floor Lamp in Chrome and White for Stilnovo

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

Stilnovo Rare Floor Lamp in Brass Italy, 1950s Publisched

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

Floor Lamp by Stilnovo, Stained Walnut Brass Marble Base, circa 1946-48

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

Rare Floor Lamp by Stilnovo

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

Alberello Floor Lamp by Stilnovo, Italy, 1960

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

Rare Adjustable Stilnovo Mid-Century Floor Lamp in Brass, Italy 1950s

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

Stilnovo, Floor Lamp, Brass, Metal, Glass, Italy, 1960s

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

Mid Century Italian Floor Lamp by Stilnovo 1960s

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

Midcentury Italian Floor Lamp by Stilnovo, 1960

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

Stilnovo Floor Lamp in Metal, Marble and Opaline Glass, 1950s Rare Decorative

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

Joe Colombo 'Topo' Articulating Floor Lamp for Stilnovo in Chrome

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

Joe Colombo 'Topo' Articulating Floor Lamp for Stilnovo in Green

1980s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

1980s Stilnovo 'Zagar' Black Enameled Floor Lamp by Sergio Carpani

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

Joe Colombo 'Topo' Articulating Floor Lamp for Stilnovo in Red

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

Stilnovo Tripod Floor Lamp, 1950s

1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

Gae Aulenti Floor Light Three Shades Stilnovo, Italy, 1971

1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps

Mid-Century Reading Floor Lamp Brass lacquered Metal by Stilnovo, Italy, 1960s

1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps