Arredoluce Floor Lamp Mod 12705 by Angelo Lelii

About the Item

Midcentury floor lamp designed by Angelo Lelii and made by Arredoluce in 1958. This model 12705 is made of a brass curved foot, vertical stem and screws, and two molded opaline glass shades covering the ten sources of light. Original light switch with the maker’s stamp. Angelo Lelli (1911-1989) Angelo Lelli was the founder of Arredoluce, an Italian company specialized in lighting editions active from 1947 to 1987. He was born in 1911 in the Ancona region but moved with his family to the north of Italy to pursue his studies at ISIA (Superior Institute of Industrial Art) at the University of Decorative Arts in Monza, outside Milan. It was in Monza also where as early as 1939 he started working out of a small basement workshop, producing lamps and chandelier designs with clean lines, strong attention to detail, and applying the newest technologies. After having his work interrupted by the War, in 1946 three of his designs were featured in Domus Magazine. Arredoluce was founded in 1947, in Monza, by Angelo Lelli. Over the following decades, the company’s collaborators included renowned designers such as Giò Ponti, Ettore Sottsass, Pier Giacomo, and Achille Castiglioni. The most well-known designs of Angelo Lelii are the Triennale floor lamp model 12128 (1947) and the Cobra table lamp (1964), which became famous for its unique shape and for the low voltage used by incorporating the transformer in its base. His other iconic lights are the Tris lamp (1946), the Eye floor light (1950), the Stella ceiling light (1950), and the President table lamp (1970). Thanks to Angelo Lelii’s unique approach to lighting design, Arredoluce quickly built a reputation for creating premium quality lights based on clean, simple, and functional designs. And that is also the reason why the lamps from Lelii are so wanted amongst collectors and midcentury design lovers. A catalogue raisonné of his designs was published in Italy by Silvana Editoriale, “Arredoluce 1943 – 1987 catalogue raisonné”.

Creator:

Angelo Lelii (Designer)

Dimensions:

Height: 73.63 in (187 cm)Width: 13.39 in (34 cm)Depth: 9.06 in (23 cm)

Power Source:

Plug-in

Style:

Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)

Materials and Techniques:

Brass,Glass

Place of Origin:

Italy

Period:

1950-1959

Date of Manufacture:

1958

Condition:

Seller Location:

Saint-Ouen, FR

Reference Number:

Seller: 18781stDibs: LU1035433971912

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Shop All Angelo Lelii

Angelo Lelii

Angelo Lelii’s energetic and imaginative floor lamps, sconces and chandeliers often reflected his singular personality — whimsical but practical. He is responsible for some of the most delightfully eye-pleasing but functional works in the history of Italian mid-century modern lighting design.

Lelii was born Paolo Angelo Lelii in the seaport town of Ancona and moved to Milan when he was quite young. Not much is known about his early life — online resources frequently have his last name misspelled “Lelli” — except that he studied at the Superior Institute of Industrial Art in nearby Monza.

While there was no shortage of pioneering work being done in the field of mid-century modern lighting design, Lelii was a visionary whose dream was to create technologically advanced lighting that embodied the simple lines of modern design but would be defined by his own imaginative twists. In 1943, Lelii opened his first workshop in a tiny basement in Monza, under the name Arredoluce. A few years later, he designed the single-light, bent-arm Tris floor lamp. Later that year, he exhibited his Triennale floor lamp at the Milan Triennale VIII and garnered wide acclaim. This iconic, slender lamp features three adjustable arms with enameled aluminum shades.

Lelii’s sculptural fixtures in brass and cast iron appeared in the acclaimed design journal Domus, and he embarked on high-profile collaborations with Italian modernist legends such as Gio Ponti — a giant of architecture and design as well as a founder of Domus — Memphis Group member Ettore Sottsass Jr. and the brothers Castiglioni (formally known as Achille, Pier Giacomo and Livio).

Massive success followed for Arredoluce from the late 1950s and into the 1960s. For Lelii, there was his seminal Stella ceiling lamp, featuring opaque, acid-etched glass globe shades; his minimalist Cobra table lamp, which was one of the world’s first low voltage light fixtures; and his aptly named Eye floor lamp. Lelii continued to oversee design and production at his revolutionary lighting firm until his death in 1979.

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