Gerald Thurston Ceiling Light Fixture for Lightolier
View Similar Items
Gerald Thurston Ceiling Light Fixture for Lightolier
About the Item
- Creator:Gerald Thurston (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 12 in (30.48 cm)Diameter: 13 in (33.02 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1950
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Hamilton, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU135526706523
Gerald Thurston
As the leading designer at Lightolier during the postwar building and design boom, Gerald Thurston created his clever lighting — sleek floor lamps, table lamps and desk lamps— to suit the American lifestyles of 1950s and 1960s. His designs were at the forefront of the mid-century modern lighting revolution — like much of the visionary work being done at the time in furniture and interiors, Thurston’s fixtures are both elegant and totally innovative, reflecting the exploration of new ideas and new technology that consumed designers of the era.
Thurston eventually led a stellar team of international lighting designers at Lightolier. He was important to the pioneering East Coast-based electric lighting company, and rumor has it that because he sketched every design on craft paper, the manufacturer insured his right hand for one million American dollars.
While enrolled in the School of the Art Institute of Chicago during the 1930s, where he earned his degree in industrial design, Thurston worked as a freelance designer for the Zenith Radio Corporation. Once he graduated, he found a position at the New Metal Craft Company. There he designed custom lighting fixtures and decorative objects for architects and interior designers.
Lightolier enticed Thurston to join them in approximately 1950. That same year, New York’s Museum of Modern Art featured a green floor lamp of his in their Good Design Exhibition of 1950. The sculptural lamps that Thurston created for Lightolier are representative of his interest in Scandinavian modernist lighting as well as the revolutionary designs produced by postwar Italian companies such as Arredoluce and Arteluce. (Lightolier partnered with the latter, and Thurston found inspiration in the work of Arteluce founder Gino Sarfatti.)
During Thurston’s decades-long tenure with Lightolier, he became internationally known for his many designs. His modernist fixtures are characterized by clean lines, vibrant colors and an appealing meld of metals and rich woods. His slender-legged Lightolier Tripod floor lamp, introduced in the 1960s, garnered widespread acclaim, while his whimsical Cricket lamp, with its arthropodan shade and slim brass frame, is wholly versatile — it can be hung as a sconce or positioned on a desk and offers direct or diffused light.
On 1stDibs, find vintage Gerald Thurston lighting, decorative objects and more.
- Pair of Antique Bronze Figural Hanging Flower Basket Ceiling Light FixturesLocated in Hamilton, OntarioThis pair of very substantial and unique ceiling lights were most likely produced in the United States during the early 1900s in the Art Deco style of the period. The frame of these ...Category
Early 20th Century American Art Deco Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBronze
- Mid-Century Modern Six Branch Brass & Glass Chandelier Attributed to G. ThurstonBy Gerald ThurstonLocated in Hamilton, OntarioThis six branch brass with tinted amber glass shades is unsigned, but presumed to have been made in the United States by Lightolier and designed by Gerald Thurston in the period and ...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass
- Mid-Century Modern Hand Blown Cased Red Teardrop Glass Pendant Light FixtureBy Fog and MorupLocated in Hamilton, OntarioThis handcrafted cased glass pendant light fixture is unsigned, but presumed to have been made in Italy or Scandinavia in circa 1965 in the Midcentury Fog and Morup style. The shade ...Category
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBlown Glass
- Mid-Century Modern Hand Blown Cased Yellow or Gold Glass Pendant Light FixtureBy Fog and MorupLocated in Hamilton, OntarioThis handcrafted cased glass pendant light fixture is unsigned, but presumed to have been made in Italy or Scandinavia in circa 1965 in the midcentury fog and Morup style. The shade ...Category
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBlown Glass
- Antique Cast Bronze Outdoor Pendant Light Fixture with Stained Glass PanelsLocated in Hamilton, OntarioThis substantial antique six-sided outdoor pendant light was made between 1900 and 1910, most likely in the United States. The heavy and very ornate frame and mount are cast bronze which has been painted flat black many times over the years, but is visible where the paint has flaked off and on the ceiling cap. The six sides are done in stained glass panels of textured clear glass, with a deep yellow diamond shaped accent running down the center of each panel. The ornate top of the fixture is done with thick and heavy stepped curves with a pineapple styled finial atop each of the six sections. This Edwardian pendant light...Category
Early 20th Century American Edwardian Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBronze
- Antique Solid Cast Brass Gothic Revival Hanging Chandelier or Light FixtureLocated in Hamilton, OntarioThis antique and very large and substantial hanging chandelier is unsigned, but presumed to have been made in Italy in circa 1880 in the Gothic Revival style. The entire light is orn...Category
Antique Late 19th Century Italian Gothic Revival Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass
- Wall Light Sconce Gerald Thurston LightolierBy Lightolier, Gerald ThurstonLocated in New York, NYLarge wall light sconce Gerald Thurston for Lightolier. Handcrafted glass with white and gold colored glass overlay creating a bursting display...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsBrass
- Chandelier by Gerald Thurston for LightolierBy Lightolier, Gerald ThurstonLocated in West Palm Beach, FLThis stylish chandelier dates to the 1960s and was created for Lightolier by Gerald Thurston. The perforated form catches the light beau...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsMetal, Brass
- Lightolier Pendant Gerald ThurstonBy Lightolier, Gerald ThurstonLocated in New York, NYGerald Thurston for Lightolier brass and glass pendant light. Brass and steel mesh cone supporting a domed textured glass shade with overlaid faux gilding to the underside. Lightolie...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass
- 1950s Gerald Thurston Star Pierced Shade Flushmount for Lightolier , USABy Lightolier, Gerald ThurstonLocated in St- Leonard, QuebecEnameled aluminium shade with a pierced star motif on a brass structure . Well made strudy construction . Each shade measure 9.5 in wide by 2 in high . Glass diffuser under . ...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount
MaterialsAluminum, Brass
- Gerald Thurston pulley light for LightolierBy Gerald Thurston, LightolierLocated in Los Angeles, CAremember we have over three thousand antique sconces and over one thousand antique lights, we can not put everything on 1stdibs, if you need a specific pair of sconces or lights, ask us we might have it in our store, also we have our line of wrought iron reproduction sconces or chandeliers, or we can do your own design A nice pulley light...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsMetal
- Gerald Thurston for Lightolier Floor LampBy Lightolier, Gerald ThurstonLocated in Hanover, MAMid-1950's three light floor lamp produced by Lightolier and designed by Gerald Thurston. The style of the pierced polished brass tapered bowls appears to have been influenced by the...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsCopper, Brass
