Pair of Solid Brass Stiffel Lamps
View Similar Items
Pair of Solid Brass Stiffel Lamps
About the Item
- Creator:Stiffel (Maker)
- Dimensions:Height: 28.5 in (72.39 cm)Width: 7 in (17.78 cm)Depth: 7 in (17.78 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:Unknown
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU9213980344
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.
- Pair of Stiffel Solid Brass Table LampsBy StiffelLocated in Stamford, CTPair of 1970s tall heavy brass lamps by Stiffel. Newly rewired with new brass sockets. Overall unpolished patina. Each lamps takes one standard bulb ...Category
Vintage 1970s North American Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsBrass
$950 / set - Solid Brass Stiffel LampBy StiffelLocated in Asbury Park, NJA solid brass table lamp by Stiffel on a circular brass base plate. The bulbous form ascending from the base features thumbprint impressions all around. The thin stem tapers off until it meets a smaller brass plate...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
- Solid Brass Stiffel Table LampBy StiffelLocated in Rockaway, NJVery nice Mid-Century Modern solid brass Stiffel table lamp.Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
- Pair of Stiffel Brass Bouillotte LampsBy StiffelLocated in West Palm Beach, FLThis stylish and chic pair of Stiffel table lamps are very much in the manner of French bouillotte lamps of the late 18th century. Note: Requires three Edison based light bulbs.Category
Late 20th Century American Louis XV Table Lamps
MaterialsMetal, Brass
$800 / set - Pair of Stiffel Brass Columnar Table LampsBy StiffelLocated in Lomita, CAThis is an extraordinary pair of Stiffel lamps in size, design and presence. The pair are vintage Stiffel brass columnar lamps from the mid to late 20th Century. They are a decoratin...Category
Mid-20th Century American American Classical Table Lamps
MaterialsBrass
- Pair of Stiffel Patinated Brass Table LampsBy StiffelLocated in Chicago, ILPair of patinated solid brass baluster form 52" table lamps. Traditional Machine Age bases with flared section bodies that finish with a poppy flower bobeche. Lacquered ivory metal s...Category
Vintage 1960s American Table Lamps
MaterialsBrass
$3,000 Sale Price / set20% Off
