Pair of Large Stacked Porcelain Lamps by Gerald Thurston for Lightolier
View Similar Items
Pair of Large Stacked Porcelain Lamps by Gerald Thurston for Lightolier
About the Item
- Creator:Gerald Thurston (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 37 in (93.98 cm)Width: 9.5 in (24.13 cm)Depth: 9.5 in (24.13 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Hollywood Regency (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:Very good vintage condition, functioning, original wiring.
- Seller Location:Hadley, MA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU99975295723
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.
- Porcelain Table Lamp by Gerald Thurston for Lightolier, 1950sBy Lightolier, Gerald ThurstonLocated in Westport, CTSpeckled porcelain and brass table lamp designed by Gerald Thurston for Lightiolier, circa 1950-1959. Completely rewired, newly white linen shade included. Other designers of the ...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsBrass
- Vintage Gerald Thurston Porcelain Table Lamps for LightolierBy Gerald Thurston, LightolierLocated in Chicago, ILGerald Thurston porcelain table lamps for Lightolier.Category
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsPorcelain
- Large Gerald Thurston For Lightolier Table LampBy Gerald ThurstonLocated in New York, NY1950's Gerald Thurston for Lightolier ceramic and brass large table lamp. Shade for photography only.Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsBrass
- Pair of Gerald Thurston Fin Lamps for LightolierBy Lightolier, Gerald ThurstonLocated in Kilmarnock, VAA pair of parabolic fin table lamps by Gerard Thurston. Stoneware body is made up of four fin like shapes that have alternating concave Navy and light turquoise glaze. Porcelain sits...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsBrass
$6,500 / set - Gerald Thurston for Lightolier Desk LampBy Gerald ThurstonLocated in Riverdale, NYGerald Thurston for Lightolier Desk Lamp from the 1950s in an Industrial green grey enameled sheet metal. Crescent base and sw...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsMetal
- Gerald Thurston "Cricket" Lamp for LightolierBy Gerald Thurston, LightolierLocated in Brooklyn, NYGreat modernist design, can sit on table or be hung on the wall as a sconce. Pierced pivoting shade allows for direct or diffused light and brightness control.Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsEnamel