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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1970s Swedish Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Pine
2010s Italian Modern Table Lamps
Murano Glass
2010s Italian Modern Table Lamps
Blown Glass
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Metal, Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
Murano Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
Crystal, Iron
1970s Swedish Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Pine
1970s Swedish Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Table Lamps
Foam
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Table Lamps
Metal
2010s European Modern Table Lamps
Bronze
1970s Unknown Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Metal
1970s American Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Chrome
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Brass
2010s South African Modern Table Lamps
Brass
1970s Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Metal
1970s German Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Art Glass
1990s Italian Modern Table Lamps
Plastic
1970s Swedish Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Pine
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
Plastic
1970s Swedish Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Pine
1970s Swedish Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Stone, Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
Metal
1950s French Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Ceramic
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Brass, Metal
1940s French Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Chrome, Steel
20th Century Italian Modern Table Lamps
Metal
2010s North American Modern Table Lamps
Bronze, Enamel, Nickel, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Table Lamps
Ceramic, Leather, Porcelain, Stoneware, Cotton
1970s Swedish Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Pine, Cord
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
Glass
2010s Italian Modern Table Lamps
Murano Glass
1970s Swedish Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Pine
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Art Glass
1970s North American Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Acrylic, Lucite
Early 2000s European Modern Table Lamps
Ceramic
2010s Italian Modern Table Lamps
Ceramic, Cotton
Mid-20th Century Modern Table Lamps
Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
Ceramic, Plexiglass
1960s European Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Chrome
1970s Swedish Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Pine
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
Blown Glass
2010s Taiwanese Modern Table Lamps
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
Aluminum, Stainless Steel, Metal
1970s Swedish Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Pine
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Table Lamps
Silk, Plexiglass
1970s Norwegian Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Stoneware
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
Resin
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary North American Modern Table Lamps
Marble, Aluminum
2010s British Modern Table Lamps
Clay, Glass, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Table Lamps
Brass
1970s Swedish Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Rosewood
1950s Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Metal, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Table Lamps
Iron
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Table Lamps
Iron
1970s Swedish Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Rosewood
2010s Taiwanese Modern Table Lamps
Steel