Modern Table Lamps
The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw sweeping social change and major scientific advances — both of which contributed to a new aesthetic: modernism. Rejecting the rigidity of Victorian artistic conventions, modernists sought a new means of expression. References to the natural world and ornate classical embellishments gave way to the sleek simplicity of the Machine Age. Architect Philip Johnson characterized the hallmarks of modernism as “machine-like simplicity, smoothness or surface [and] avoidance of ornament.”
Early practitioners of modernist design include the De Stijl (“The Style”) group, founded in the Netherlands in 1917, and the Bauhaus School, founded two years later in Germany.
Followers of both groups produced sleek, spare designs — many of which became icons of daily life in the 20th century. The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics. While Bauhaus principals Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe created furniture from mass-produced, chrome-plated steel, American visionaries like Charles and Ray Eames worked in materials as novel as molded plywood and fiberglass. Today, Breuer’s Wassily chair, Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chair — crafted with his romantic partner, designer Lilly Reich — and the Eames lounge chair are emblems of progressive design and vintage originals are prized cornerstones of collections.
It’s difficult to overstate the influence that modernism continues to wield over designers and architects — and equally difficult to overstate how revolutionary it was when it first appeared a century ago. But because modernist furniture designs are so simple, they can blend in seamlessly with just about any type of décor. Don’t overlook them.
1990s Italian Modern Table Lamps
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Greek Modern Table Lamps
Marble, Brass
1940s French Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Wood
1970s Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Brass
2010s Italian Modern Table Lamps
Alabaster, Brass
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Brass
1960s American Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
Metal
2010s Brazilian Modern Table Lamps
Wood
2010s Brazilian Modern Table Lamps
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
Glass
Early 20th Century Mexican Modern Table Lamps
Onyx
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
Murano Glass
2010s Italian Modern Table Lamps
Aluminum
1970s French Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Gold Leaf, Copper
2010s American Modern Table Lamps
Wood
Late 20th Century Modern Table Lamps
Rock Crystal
2010s Mexican Modern Table Lamps
Onyx
Early 2000s Italian Modern Table Lamps
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Table Lamps
Metal
19th Century Mexican Antique Modern Table Lamps
Onyx
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
Aluminum
1980s Spanish Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Plexiglass, Beech, Pine, Parchment Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Table Lamps
Aluminum, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Table Lamps
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Table Lamps
Hardwood
20th Century Mexican Modern Table Lamps
Onyx
1960s French Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Table Lamps
Aluminum, Steel
2010s Italian Modern Table Lamps
Crystal, Stainless Steel
1960s American Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Pewter, Copper, Brass
Late 20th Century Unknown Modern Table Lamps
Lucite
2010s British Modern Table Lamps
Brass
1960s Swedish Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Steel
2010s Brazilian Modern Table Lamps
Brass
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Ceramic
2010s English Modern Table Lamps
Brass
2010s Brazilian Modern Table Lamps
Wood
Late 20th Century American Modern Table Lamps
Stainless Steel
2010s Italian Modern Table Lamps
Brass
1970s Swedish Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Aluminum
20th Century Italian Modern Table Lamps
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Table Lamps
Rock Crystal, Gold Leaf
1960s French Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Wood
1970s Belgian Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Brass
1950s French Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Wood, Paint, Giltwood, Porcelain
1930s French Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Nickel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
Carrara Marble
1940s American Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Brass
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Iron
1970s Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Brass
Late 20th Century American Modern Table Lamps
Hardwood
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Table Lamps
Brass
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Aluminum
Early 2000s Italian Modern Table Lamps
Marble, Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
Steel