Russel Wright Table Lamps in Wood, Aluminum, Brass & Glass from 1930's-1950's
View Similar Items
Russel Wright Table Lamps in Wood, Aluminum, Brass & Glass from 1930's-1950's
About the Item
- Creator:Russel Wright (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 18 in (45.72 cm)Diameter: 5 in (12.7 cm)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:late 1930s-1950s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Bainbridge, NY
- Reference Number:Seller: 9870921161stDibs: f91391605164707563fs
Russel Wright
While industrial designer Russell Wright may be known to modern furniture enthusiasts for his streamlined end tables, dining chairs and other pieces, he is universally revered for a line of tableware he created called American Modern. Efficient, practical, and striking in their elegant forms and warm colors, the American Modern ceramic pieces, which included bowls, pitchers, dishes, and other items, became the best-selling dinnerware of all time. Today, vintage Russell Wright American Modern tableware is an evergreen favorite of art collectors and interior designers alike.
Born in 1904 in Ohio, Wright was surrounded by inspiration for the furniture he would one day design. He was raised in a Quaker household and grew up with the spare, meticulously handcrafted furniture for which the Quakers are known. As a young man, he studied art and sculpture at the Art Academy of Cincinnati and the Art Students League of New York, going on to study law at Princeton University in New Jersey. But Wright loved the arts and abandoned his pursuit of a law degree to create stage sets in Princeton and Paris alongside fellow noted designer Norman Bel Geddes.
In 1927, Wright married artist and sculptor Mary Einstein. Together, they moved to New York City, where Wright began to create sculptures. Mary convinced him to create metal bookends from his sculptures, and later, when he began to craft bar accessories from chrome, he turned to aluminum, a much cheaper material for the purposes of mass production (his barware was eventually included in the "Machine Art" show at the Museum of Modern Art in 1934, which was curated by Philip Johnson).
Mary worked on marketing Russell's products, successfully proposing everyday uses for Wright's beautifully designed housewares. She is said to have been a pioneer in the world of lifestyle marketing, coining the terms "American Modern" and "blonde" to describe the charming, light-colored maple furniture he created for Conant Ball, which was known at the time for its reproductions of American Colonial furniture.
While Wright had created some Art Deco furnishings for Heywood-Wakefield, it was this group of bedroom furniture for Conant Ball that got its name, American Modern, from Mary. Under her guidance, Wright's attractive, functional designs for the home gained renown, leading to commissions by prestigious companies like the Steubenville Pottery Company.
In 1935, Wright formed Russell Wright Associates with Irving Richards, an entrepreneur who had worked with Lightolier and would later establish Raymor. In collaboration with Richards, Wright debuted the first line of American Modern dinnerware in 1939, which was initially produced by Russell Wright Associates and then manufactured by Steubenville for two decades. The line sold over 200 million pieces during its 20 years of production. In 1955, Wright was selected by the U.S. State Department to research handicraft industries in Southeast Asia, a trip that influenced his later designs.
Throughout his life, Wright continued to design furniture and housewares, with the works' signature earth tones, curved forms, and clean silhouettes of his floor lamps, lounge chairs, and serveware remaining popular staples in American households. In his later years, he focused on designing and building his home, Manitoga, and working with the National Parks Service to develop the "Summer in the Parks" program.
Upon Wright's death in 1974, Manitoga was given to the Nature Conservancy. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2006 and today houses the Russell & Mary Wright Design Gallery, where many of Wright's works stand on permanent display. In 2011, stamps from the U.S. Postal Service featured Wright's image as one of the United States' twelve most influential industrial designers.
Find vintage Russel Wright lighting, seating, tables, serveware, ceramics and glass on 1stDibs.
- Pair of Russel Wright Style Bleached Oak & Brass Accordion Table Lamps, 1950sBy Russel WrightLocated in Bainbridge, NYArchitectural pair Russel Wright style brass and cerused oak table lamps. Featuring a curved accordion design with five cylindrical brass stems, elliptical bleached oak top and botto...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsBrass
- Pair of Late Art Deco Russel Wright Style White and Black Enamel Table LampsBy Russel WrightLocated in Bainbridge, NYPair Russel Wright style Late Art Deco White Enameled Metal & Black Lacquered Wood Bedside Lamps, Desk Lamps. Featuring Industrial Modernist Black a...Category
Vintage 1940s American Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsMetal, Brass
- Russel Wright Style Raffia Wrapped White Floor Lamp with Glass Shade, 1950sBy Russel WrightLocated in Bainbridge, NYAmerican Modern Russel Wright White and Raffia wrapped Floor Lamp. Featuring a tubular white enameled metal column and round white enameled metal base with raffia details. With (8H) ...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsBrass, Metal
- Pair of Machine Age Polished & Matte Turned Aluminum Table Lamps, C. 1930Located in Bainbridge, NYSmaller Pair of Turned Aluminum "Skyscraper" Bedside Table Lamps. Featuring a hand crafted tapered cone form in polished machinist made, lathed turned Aluminum on round bases with re...Category
Vintage 1930s American Machine Age Table Lamps
MaterialsAluminum, Nickel
- Tall "Millepatte" Style Brass Table Lamp, 1950sLocated in Bainbridge, NYSubstantial French Modern Brass Table Lamp. Featuring a low corseted form, eight Brass radiating spokes, elevated supports and round splayed base detailed with a White enameled metal...Category
Vintage 1950s Unknown Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsBrass, Metal
- Tall Pair French Style Brass, Lucite & Walnut "Scroll" Table Lamps, 1950'sLocated in Bainbridge, NYPair of sculptural french style scrolled Brass Wire and Walnut Table Lamps. Featuring four joined curved S shape patinated Brass wire forms, a top lightly restored solid grained Wal...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsBrass
- Russel Wright Aluminum and Glass Torchere LampBy Russel WrightLocated in Stockton, NJA Russel Wright attributed aluminum torchere uplight with double glass ring accent. Standard single socket U.S. wired.Category
Vintage 1940s American Art Deco Table Lamps
MaterialsAluminum
- Russel Wright, Table Lamps, Ceramic, Brass, Wood, USA, 1940sBy Russel WrightLocated in High Point, NCA pair of freeform grey-glazed ceramic, brass and black-lacquered wood table lamps, designed by Russel Wright, USA, 1940s. Dimensions of Lamp (inches): 29.75” H x 8” Diameter Dimens...Category
Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsBrass
- Russel Wright LampBy Russel WrightLocated in New York, NYTable lamp designed by Russel Wright, bamboo body wrapped by copper wire, on brass base. This example shows cosmetic wear to finish, normal and consistent with age, working, original...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsBrass, Copper
- Russel Wright Turned Wood Table Lamp by Fairmont LampsBy Russel WrightLocated in Philadelphia, PARussel Wright turned wood table lamp with a slightly pickled white finish. Early 1950's lamp produced by Fairmont Lamp Company. Original lampshade was recovered with paper very much ...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsOak
- Russel Wright Fairmont Table LampBy Russel WrightLocated in Dallas, TXA rare carved oak 'Fairmont' table lamp designed by Russel Wright, 1935.Category
Vintage 1930s Table Lamps
MaterialsOak
- Pair Russel Wright Ceramic LampsBy Russel WrightLocated in Westport, CTPr Rare Russel Wright Ceramic free form Nude Lamps Grey and BlackCategory
Vintage 1940s American Table Lamps
$3,400 / set