Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Organically shaped, clean-lined and elegantly simple are three terms that well describe mid-century modern American 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.
Postwar American architects and designers were animated by new ideas and new technology. The lean, functionalist “International Style” architecture of Le Corbusier and Bauhaus eminences such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius had been promoted in the United States during the ’30s 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, respectively, pieces such as the La Chaise and the Womb chair. George Nelson and his design team created Bubble lamp shades using a new translucent polymer skin. Harry Bertoia and Isamu Noguchi devised chairs and tables built of wire mesh and wire struts. Materials were re-purposed: the Danish-born designer Jens Risom created a line of chairs that used surplus parachute straps for webbed seats and backrests.
As the demand for casual, uncluttered furnishings grew, more mid-century 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, blonde-wood furniture — and Milo Baughman, who espoused a West Coast aesthetic in lushly upholstered chairs and sofas with angular steel frames.
As the collection of vintage mid-century modern American furniture on 1stDibs demonstrates, this period saw one of the most delightful and dramatic flowerings of creativity in design history.
1950s Austrian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Brass
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Ceramic
1940s Swedish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Shell, Wood
Early 2000s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Crystal, Carrara Marble
2010s Spanish Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Brass
1970s German Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Metal
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Brass
1960s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Ceramic, Walnut
Mid-20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Brass
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Marble, Metal, Brass
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Crystal, Brass
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Metal
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Metal
1980s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Aluminum
1970s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Ceramic
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Marble, Metal, Brass
Mid-20th Century Belgian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Crystal, Brass
1970s Spanish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Steel
1970s German Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Opal
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Ceramic
1950s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Metal
20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Rosewood
1950s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Brass
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Brass, Wrought Iron
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Porcelain
1960s Japanese Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Bamboo
1950s Austrian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Rattan, Birch
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Metal
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Metal
1970s European Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Ceramic
1960s German Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Brass
1960s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Ceramic, Fabric
1960s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Marble, Steel
2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Opaline Glass
Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Metal
1960s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Steel, Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Metal, Brass
1980s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Aluminum
2010s Danish Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Brass
1950s German Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Brass
1960s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Brass, Sheet Metal
2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Brass
1970s Czech Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Chrome
1970s European Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Stainless Steel
1960s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Teak
1990s French Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Metal
2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Metal
1950s Austrian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Aluminum, Brass
1950s Swedish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Marble, Brass
1970s English Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Plastic
1970s European Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Brass
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Marble, Steel
1950s Austrian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Brass
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Plastic
1970s German Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Metal
1960s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Slate