Sculptural Ceramic Lamps by George Thurston
View Similar Items
Sculptural Ceramic Lamps by George Thurston
About the Item
- Creator:Gerald Thurston (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 41.5 in (105.41 cm)Diameter: 17 in (43.18 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:Rewired: Rewired and ready to use. Wear consistent with age and use. Very good condition. Minor surface scratches, rubs, and wear. Rewired and ready to use.
- Seller Location:Atlanta, GA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU871819935942
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.
- Gerald Thurston Parabolic Fin Sculptural Ceramic Lamps by LightolierBy Gerald Thurston, LightolierLocated in Atlanta, GASculptural Pair of "Parabolic Fin" Model Ceramic Lamps, designed by Gerald Thurston for Lightolier, American, circa 1950s. They have been rewired and are ready to use. One lamp has a...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsMetal
- Sculptural White LampsBy Alberto and Diego GiacomettiLocated in Atlanta, GAPair of sculptural white lamps, in the manner of Diego Giacometti, probably American, circa 1950s. They have been rewired and are ready to use. The pr...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsMetal
$1,100 / set - Sculptural Modern LampLocated in Atlanta, GASculptural modern lamp, believed to be Italian, circa 1960s. It has been rewired and is ready to use. The price noted below includes the shade.Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsMetal, Brass
$1,600 - Pair of Sculptural Black and Brass Swirl LampsLocated in Atlanta, GAPair of Sculptural Black and Brass Swirl Lamps, American, circa 1950s. Rewired and ready to use.Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsBrass, Metal
$750 Sale Price / set53% Off - Sculptural Ceramic Lamp Attributed to Design TechnicsBy Design TechnicsLocated in Atlanta, GASculptural mid century ceramic lamp, attributed to Leon Rosen for Design Technics, unsigned, American, circa 1960s. It has been rewired and is ready to use. The price and measurement...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsMetal
- Large Sculptural Ceramic Lamp with Biomorphic Cut OutsLocated in Atlanta, GALarge Sculptural Ceramic Lamp with Biomorphic Cut Outs, American, circa 1950's. The lamp measures an impressive 40.5" height to the top of the shade. It measures 22" height to the to...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsBrass
$850 Sale Price61% Off
- Sculptural Glazed Ceramic Lamp by Arpad RostiBy Arpad RostiLocated in Buffalo, NYorganic form sculptural glazed ceramic lamp by Arpad Rosti. Dark blue-green and grey in color. Best known for his remarkably inventive lamps, trays and vessels designed in organic, free form shapes, Arpad Rosti was a highly versatile artist, equally at home in both the ceramics and enameling fields. While most of his work was done in either clay or metal, in the late 1940s he also ventured into furniture design when he produced a group of tables in treated wood, mosaic, copper, and glass. His one-of-a-kind furniture was exhibited in 1949 at the Chinese Gallery in New York and written up in the New York Times. As further evidence of his wide-ranging talents, in 1972 he was commissioned to produce a stained glass window for a residence in North Caldwell, New Jersey which New York Times critic Joan Cook described as “a miracle of color and light.” Born in Subotica, Yugoslavia in 1909, Rosti studied architecture at the School of Industrial Arts in Budapest. In 1940, he moved with his wife Ilona to the United States and settled in New York where he became a naturalized citizen in 1945. In 1947 his work was featured in an exhibition organized by the Craftsmen’s Equity and presented at the Barbizon-Plaza Galleries in New York. The organization, of which he was President, aimed to “put craft on a business basis without sacrificing the individuality inherent in handmade articles.” Throughout the 1950s Rosti’s work was regularly chosen for the prestigious National Ceramic Exhibitions at the Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts (now known as the Everson Museum). It was included in seven of these exhibitions between 1946 and 1958 and in 1947 Rosti’s work was singled out by the New York Times critic Edward Alden...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsCeramic
- Sculptural Studio Pottery Ceramic Table Lamp, 1980sBy Memphis GroupLocated in Miami, FLOne of a kind ceramic lamp. Made of three hand formed (not turned or molded) ceramic elements of different shapes and colors. The glazes are thick and textural. The light bulb goes o...Category
Vintage 1980s American Table Lamps
- Sculptural Stoneware Ceramic Table Lamp, circa 1960Located in Neuilly-en- sancerre, FRIncredible sculptural stoneware table lamp by French artist, circa 1970 Original ceramic effects Perfect electric conditions Dimensions (only ceramic part) : 30 x 23 x 2...Category
Vintage 1960s French Table Lamps
- Sculptural Ceramic Male Torso Lamps by Gwen Lux a Pair from 1948 Mid CenturyLocated in Philadelphia, PAIncredible lamps by world renown sculptor Gwen Lux whose commissions are in such historical sites as Radio City Music Hall, General Motors Technical Center, T...Category
Mid-20th Century North American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsCeramic
- Nico Lamp, Sculptural Contemporary Hand-Built Ceramic Table Lamp in Matte WhiteBy Yuko NishikawaLocated in Brooklyn, NYNico is a hand-built sculptural ceramic table lamp that inspires the joy of working with hands through unpacking, assembling and balancing weights. The handmade ceramic globes and th...Category
2010s American Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsMetal
- Marianna von Allesch Modern Ceramic Sculptural Lamp, Midcentury, Organic ModernBy Marianna von AlleschLocated in Brooklyn, NYStunning Marianna von Allesch modern ceramic table lamp with original hand painted custom shade that continues the cubist color blocks of the body and mirrors the stripes of his mate...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsCeramic
$3,940 Sale Price60% Off