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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Rock Crystal
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Table Lamps
Marble, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Table Lamps
Bronze
2010s American Modern Table Lamps
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
Aluminum
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Murano Glass
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Table Lamps
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
Brass
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Steel
2010s American Modern Table Lamps
Metal
1970s American Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Aluminum
2010s Italian Modern Table Lamps
Marble, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Table Lamps
Aluminum, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Table Lamps
Metal
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Table Lamps
Murano Glass
1960s American Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Stoneware
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Table Lamps
Alabaster, Brass
1980s Danish Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Blown Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
Blown Glass
1940s American Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Ceramic, Wood
1980s American Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Brass
1990s Italian Modern Table Lamps
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Table Lamps
Blown Glass
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
Leather, Cotton
20th Century Modern Table Lamps
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Table Lamps
Brass
2010s American Modern Table Lamps
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Table Lamps
Aluminum
Late 20th Century French Modern Table Lamps
Textile, Lucite, Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
Ceramic
1930s Austrian Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Glass, Bakelite
1980s Japanese Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Plastic
1980s American Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Brass
2010s Italian Modern Table Lamps
Murano Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
Stone, Cement
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Brass
20th Century Italian Modern Table Lamps
Malachite
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Metal, Brass, Gold Plate
2010s Italian Modern Table Lamps
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Table Lamps
Blown Glass
1950s French Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary European Modern Table Lamps
Ceramic, Parchment Paper
2010s Brazilian Modern Table Lamps
Acrylic, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
Metal
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Metal
Mid-20th Century American Modern Table Lamps
Chrome, Magnets, Metal
20th Century Modern Table Lamps
Rock Crystal
2010s American Modern Table Lamps
Wood, Hardwood, Ash, Ebony, Walnut, Softwood, Reclaimed Wood, Scrap Wood
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Table Lamps
Plaster
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
Blown Glass
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Table Lamps
Marble, Brass
2010s Greek Modern Table Lamps
Marble
2010s European Modern Table Lamps
Bronze
1940s French Vintage Modern Table Lamps
Copper
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
Resin