1960s Cream & Gold Stiffel Lamps, Pair
View Similar Items
1960s Cream & Gold Stiffel Lamps, Pair
About the Item
- Creator:Stiffel (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 32 in (81.28 cm)Diameter: 4 in (10.16 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1960s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Minor losses. Missing one finial, one lamp slightly darker in color.
- Seller Location:Amherst, NH
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1962329168272
Stiffel
When Ted Stiffel (1899–1971) founded Stiffel in 1932 in Chicago, he wanted to make functional, thoughtfully designed table lamps and other fixtures that were available at an accessible price. Born in Memphis, Stiffel first pursued a career in music before serving in World War I. After his discharge, he worked with the Western Electric Company in Chicago and then the Nellie J. Kaplan Company, a lighting firm also in the Windy City.
After he started his own lamp business, Stiffel began supplying area department stores and by the 1940s had opened a large factory that was producing lamps for nationwide sale, eventually competing with the likes of the Frederick Cooper Lamp Company, also based in Chicago. In 1948, designer Edwin J. Cole joined the company and created some of the firm’s most striking table lamps. Today, Cole’s vintage mid-century modern lighting fixtures for Stiffel, frequently with distinctively tall and shapely ceramic bodies and finished with decorative brass chinoiserie details, are highly prized by collectors.
One of Stiffel’s innovations was his patented switch, which simplified turning lights on and off: All someone had to do was grasp a lamp’s pole and gently pull down. He also designed a pole lamp with a vertical tube that held a series of fixtures on the outside. The upright pole lamp was so innovative that Sears, Roebuck and Company copied it. Stiffel sued, and the case ended up in the Supreme Court in 1964. The ruling against Stiffel was influential in whether states can give a patent to objects that do not have the invention required of federal patents.
After declaring bankruptcy in 2000, the brand was revived in 2013 in Linden, New Jersey, where newly produced high-quality lamps carry the Stiffel name.
Find a collection of vintage Stiffel lighting on 1stDibs.
- Pr. Stiffel Ostrich Egg Table LampsBy StiffelLocated in New York, NYPr elegant and impressive Ostrich Egg table lamps by noted American maker, Stiffel. The lamps are both in excellent, clean, working condition, i...Category
Mid-20th Century American Hollywood Regency Table Lamps
MaterialsMetal
$1,200 / set - Pair Hollywood Regency Obelisk Table Lamps by Stiffel Att. to ParzingerBy Tommi Parzinger, StiffelLocated in New York, NYWonderful pair of obelisk form table lamps made by Stiffel, design attributed to Tommi Parzinger. The lamps are both in very good, original, clean and working condition, showing only...Category
Mid-20th Century American Hollywood Regency Table Lamps
MaterialsBrass
- Gerald Thurston for Stiffel Mid Century Teak Table LampBy Gerald Thurston, StiffelLocated in Countryside, ILGerald Thurston for Stiffel Mid Century Teak Table Lamp This piece measures: 6 wide x 6 deep x 28 inches high and weighs 4.7 pounds G...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsMetal
- Hollywood Regency Lenox Porcelain and Brass Stiffel LampsBy StiffelLocated in Rio Vista, CAPair of gorgeous Hollywood Regency Stiffel lamps with a Lenox porcelain vase form body and featuring a classic brass leafed pineapple spacer and pedest...Category
20th Century American Hollywood Regency Table Lamps
MaterialsPorcelain
- Pr. Faux Bamboo Brass Table Lamps by StiffelBy StiffelLocated in New York, NYStately and impressive pair of faux bamboo, Hollywood regency, Campaign style table lamps by the noted American manufacturer, Stiffel. The lamps are in very good, original, clean an...Category
Mid-20th Century American Campaign Table Lamps
MaterialsBrass
- Brass and Ceramic Stiffel Lamp, 1960s, USABy StiffelLocated in Miami, FLMonumental blue ceramic and brass lamp by Stiffel.Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps