Angelo Lelii Arredoluce LargeNickel & Frosted Opaline Glass Sconces, Italy, 1964
About the Item
- Creator:Angelo Lelii (Artist),Arredoluce (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 23.5 in (59.69 cm)Width: 10.25 in (26.04 cm)Depth: 7.5 in (19.05 cm)
- Power Source:Hardwired
- Lampshade:Included
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1964
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Brooklyn, NY
- Reference Number:
Arredoluce
The lighting company Arredoluce opened in 1943, at the start of a golden era of modernist Italian design, and was born of the confluence of an eager entrepreneurial business spirit and a fresh, innovative, forward-looking creative atmosphere.
Angelo Lelii (1911–79), the founder of Arredoluce, which was based in the Milanese district of Monza, was a gifted and at times brilliant designer. He had the insight to commission works from other greats of the day, including Gio Ponti, Vico Magistretti, the brothers Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni and Ettore Sottsass Jr.
Lelii’s designs cover a broad aesthetic range. His most famous work, the Triennale floor lamp (circa 1947), is both elegant and practical, with three omnidirectional lighting booms attached to a central pole. His well-known ceiling light of 1954 — in which a conical canister bounces light upward off a lighting-arced enameled-aluminum sheet — is a piece of design poetry. And his 1962 Cobra table lamp has a wild, almost surreal look, featuring a sculptured rod of polished metal with a socket that, like his Eye floor lamp of the early 1960s, holds an eyeball-like directional bulb.
Arredoluce also placed few constraints on the creativity of the designers it employed from outside the company. The Castiglioni brothers’ Turbino table lamp of 1951, for example, is a remarkably early example of minimalist design. The company both fostered the tradition-minded aspect of Gio Ponti’s sensibility and produced several of his experimental pieces in Lucite in the 1950s; and Sottsass’s UFO table lamp of 1957, a sandwich of two plastic bubbled tablets on four legs, prefigures the look of his postmodern works for the Memphis Group by more than 20 years. From the stylish and utilitarian to the avant-garde, lighting by Arredoluce includes some of the most diverse, remarkable — and collectible — designs of the late 20th century.
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.
Find vintage Angelo Lelii lighting on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: New York, NY
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- Italian Red Enamel & Brushed Steel Opaline Glass Chandelier, Lumi, Italy, 1960By LumiLocated in Brooklyn, NYItalian Red Enamel & Brushed Steel Opaline Glass Chandelier, Lumi, Italy, 1960Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsMetal, Brass, Enamel
- Stilnovo Opaline & Brass Lamp, mod. 8055, Parchment Shade, Italy, c. 1950'sBy StilnovoLocated in Brooklyn, NYItalian table lamp with dual switch, one for the interior, mod. 8055, produced by Stilnovo with brass structure, frosted opaline glass base circa 1950s.Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsBrass
- Italian Minimalist Glass & Brass Magazine Holder, Italy, c. 1970Located in Brooklyn, NYItalian Minimalist glass & brass magazine holder, Italy, c. 1970.Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Minimalist Magazine Racks and Stands
MaterialsBrass
- Pair of White Swedish Horseshoe Back Armchairs, Sweden, C. 1964Located in Brooklyn, NYPair of generous white Swedish horseshoe back armchairs, Sweden, c. 1964 Measures: H: 29.25, W: 29.5, D: 24.75 in.Category
Vintage 1960s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Armchairs
MaterialsBeech
- Stilnovo Black & Brass Suspension Chandelier, Textured Glass, Italy, c. 1960’sBy StilnovoLocated in Brooklyn, NYStilnovo Black & Brass Suspension Chandelier, Textured Glass, Italy, c. 1960’sCategory
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsMetal, Enamel, Brass
- Pietro Chiesa Pair of Fontana Arte Glass & Brass Lamps, Italy, 1940'sBy Fontana Arte, Pietro ChiesaLocated in Brooklyn, NYThese are special because they are of clear Fontana Arte Glass and are a pair. New custom Vellum shades.Category
Vintage 1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsAlabaster, Brass
- Angelo Lelii Italian Midcentury Glass Brass Sconces Wall Lamps Arredoluce 1950sBy Angelo Lelii, ArredoluceLocated in Reggio Emilia, ITItalian midcentury modern design sconces wall lamps designed by Angelo Lelii and produced by Arredoluce Monza with white opaline glass diffusers and brass frame, production mark engr...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsBrass
- Angelo Lelii Mod. 12643 Arredoluce Sconces '4 Pieces', Italy, 1957By Angelo Lelii, ArredoluceLocated in Vienna, ATRare Angelo Lelii Mod. 12643 Arredoluce Sconces (4 Pieces), Italy, 1957 Please note that we have 4 wall lights available, they are priced per pair(2) Formidable set of four 18....Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsBrass
- Four angelo Lelii wall sconce for Arredoluce, Italy, 1950sBy Angelo Lelii, ArredoluceLocated in Rovereta, SMFour wall sconces/lamps designed by Angelo Lelii for Arredoluce, Italy, 1950s. Metal backplate with yellow plexiglass sides and white plexiglass front. Original makers labels present.Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsAluminum
- Wall Sconce by Angelo Lelii for ArredoluceBy Angelo Lelii, ArredoluceLocated in Los Angeles, CAWall Sconce by Angelo Lelii for Arredoluce. Designed and manufactured in Italy, circa the 1950s. A picture light or wall sconce consisting of a multiple articulating chrome armature ...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsChrome, Steel
- Pair of Cylindrical Sconces by Angelo Lelii for ArredoluceBy Angelo Lelii, ArredoluceLocated in New York, NYBrushed chrome bases, frosted glass diffuser shades and tinted glass discs. Each sconce has two candelabra sockets. One on the top which illuminates the shade and one at the bottom w...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsChrome
- Angelo Lelii 12712 ceiling lamps Arredoluce Italy 1958By Angelo Lelii, ArredoluceLocated in Roosendaal, Noord BrabantExquisite pair of large models 12712 ceiling or wall lamps designed by Angelo Lelii and manufactured by Arredoluce, Italy 1958. These rare and impressive sized lamps are very well ma...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsMetal, Nickel