Modern Table Lamps
The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw sweeping social change and major scientific advances — both of which contributed to a new aesthetic: modernism. Rejecting the rigidity of Victorian artistic conventions, modernists sought a new means of expression. References to the natural world and ornate classical embellishments gave way to the sleek simplicity of the Machine Age. Architect Philip Johnson characterized the hallmarks of modernism as “machine-like simplicity, smoothness or surface [and] avoidance of ornament.”
Early practitioners of modernist design include the De Stijl (“The Style”) group, founded in the Netherlands in 1917, and the Bauhaus School, founded two years later in Germany.
Followers of both groups produced sleek, spare designs — many of which became icons of daily life in the 20th century. The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics. While Bauhaus principals Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe created furniture from mass-produced, chrome-plated steel, American visionaries like Charles and Ray Eames worked in materials as novel as molded plywood and fiberglass. Today, Breuer’s Wassily chair, Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chair — crafted with his romantic partner, designer Lilly Reich — and the Eames lounge chair are emblems of progressive design and vintage originals are prized cornerstones of collections.
It’s difficult to overstate the influence that modernism continues to wield over designers and architects — and equally difficult to overstate how revolutionary it was when it first appeared a century ago. But because modernist furniture designs are so simple, they can blend in seamlessly with just about any type of décor. Don’t overlook them.
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Aluminum
1980s American Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Chrome
Late 20th Century French Modern Table Lamps
Bronze
Early 2000s American Modern Table Lamps
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
Brass
Mid-20th Century American Modern Table Lamps
Stone, Metal
2010s American Modern Table Lamps
Ceramic, Porcelain
20th Century American Modern Table Lamps
Plaster
2010s Belgian Modern Table Lamps
Onyx, Brass
1940s American Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Walnut
1970s European Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Plastic
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Silver
2010s Portuguese Modern Table Lamps
Ceramic, Clay
2010s Italian Modern Table Lamps
Brass
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Brass
1980s American Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
Glass
2010s Italian Modern Table Lamps
Brass
1990s Italian Modern Table Lamps
Metal
2010s American Modern Table Lamps
Fabric, Linen, Wood, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
Steel
Late 20th Century American Modern Table Lamps
Pottery
2010s American Modern Table Lamps
Fabric, Linen, Wood, Walnut
2010s American Modern Table Lamps
Fabric, Walnut, Wood, Linen
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
Steel
Late 20th Century American Modern Table Lamps
Metal
2010s American Modern Table Lamps
Fabric, Walnut, Wood, Linen
2010s American Modern Table Lamps
Fabric, Linen, Wood, Walnut
2010s American Modern Table Lamps
Fabric, Linen, Wood, Walnut
2010s American Modern Table Lamps
Fabric, Linen, Wood, Walnut
1990s German Modern Table Lamps
Metal, Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Table Lamps
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Table Lamps
Ceramic
1970s Swedish Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Metal
Late 20th Century Unknown Modern Table Lamps
Chrome
2010s Italian Modern Table Lamps
Marble
1980s Belgian Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Table Lamps
Marble, Brass, Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Table Lamps
Stainless Steel
1990s Italian Modern Table Lamps
Glass
1930s French Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Burlap, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Table Lamps
Brass, Stainless Steel
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Metal
1960s French Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Table Lamps
Marble, Brass, Stainless Steel
1930s French Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Metal, Aluminum, Steel
2010s European Modern Table Lamps
Plexiglass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Table Lamps
Ceramic
Late 20th Century American Modern Table Lamps
Lucite
2010s Italian Modern Table Lamps
Brass
Early 20th Century Danish Modern Table Lamps
Metal
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Metal
1960s German Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Table Lamps
Brass
Late 20th Century American Modern Table Lamps
Wire
1980s American Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Brass
Early 20th Century American Modern Table Lamps
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Table Lamps
Plaster