Mid-century Modern Polifemo White Italian Floor Lamp By Angelo Lelli, 1950
About the Item
- Creator:Arredoluce (Manufacturer),Angelo Lelii (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 79.14 in (201 cm)Diameter: 12.6 in (32 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (In the Style Of)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1956
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Madrid, ES
- Reference Number:
Angelo Lelii
Angelo Lelii’s energetic and imaginative floor lamps, sconces and chandeliers often reflected his singular personality — whimsical but practical. He is responsible for some of the most delightfully eye-pleasing but functional works in the history of Italian mid-century modern lighting design.
Lelii was born Paolo Angelo Lelii in the seaport town of Ancona and moved to Milan when he was quite young. Not much is known about his early life — online resources frequently have his last name misspelled “Lelli” — except that he studied at the Superior Institute of Industrial Art in nearby Monza.
While there was no shortage of pioneering work being done in the field of mid-century modern lighting design, Lelii was a visionary whose dream was to create technologically advanced lighting that embodied the simple lines of modern design but would be defined by his own imaginative twists. In 1943, Lelii opened his first workshop in a tiny basement in Monza, under the name Arredoluce. A few years later, he designed the single-light, bent-arm Tris floor lamp. Later that year, he exhibited his Triennale floor lamp at the Milan Triennale VIII and garnered wide acclaim. This iconic, slender lamp features three adjustable arms with enameled aluminum shades.
Lelii’s sculptural fixtures in brass and cast iron appeared in the acclaimed design journal Domus, and he embarked on high-profile collaborations with Italian modernist legends such as Gio Ponti — a giant of architecture and design as well as a founder of Domus — Memphis Group member Ettore Sottsass Jr. and the brothers Castiglioni (formally known as Achille, Pier Giacomo and Livio).
Massive success followed for Arredoluce from the late 1950s and into the 1960s. For Lelii, there was his seminal Stella ceiling lamp, featuring opaque, acid-etched glass globe shades; his minimalist Cobra table lamp, which was one of the world’s first low voltage light fixtures; and his aptly named Eye floor lamp. Lelii continued to oversee design and production at his revolutionary lighting firm until his death in 1979.
Find vintage Angelo Lelii lighting on 1stDibs.
Arredoluce
The lighting company Arredoluce opened in 1943, at the start of a golden era of modernist Italian design, and was born of the confluence of an eager entrepreneurial business spirit and a fresh, innovative, forward-looking creative atmosphere.
Angelo Lelii (1911–79), the founder of Arredoluce, which was based in the Milanese district of Monza, was a gifted and at times brilliant designer. He had the insight to commission works from other greats of the day, including Gio Ponti, Vico Magistretti, the brothers Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni and Ettore Sottsass Jr.
Lelii’s designs cover a broad aesthetic range. His most famous work, the Triennale floor lamp (circa 1947), is both elegant and practical, with three omnidirectional lighting booms attached to a central pole. His well-known ceiling light of 1954 — in which a conical canister bounces light upward off a lighting-arced enameled-aluminum sheet — is a piece of design poetry. And his 1962 Cobra table lamp has a wild, almost Surrealist look, featuring a sculptured rod of polished metal with a socket that, like his Eye floor lamp of the early 1960s, holds an eyeball-like directional bulb.
Arredoluce also placed few constraints on the creativity of the designers it employed from outside the company. The Castiglioni brothers’ Tubino table lamp of 1951, for example, is a remarkably early example of minimalist design. The company both fostered the tradition-minded aspect of Ponti’s sensibility and produced several of his experimental pieces in Lucite in the 1950s; and Sottsass’s UFO table lamp of 1957, a sandwich of two plastic bubbled tablets on four legs, prefigures the look of his postmodern works for the Memphis Group by more than 20 years.
From the stylish and utilitarian to the avant-garde, vintage Arredoluce floor lamps, table lamps, chandeliers and other lighting includes some of the most diverse, remarkable — and collectible — designs of the late 20th century.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Madrid, Spain
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 14 days of delivery.
- Mid-Century Modern Italian Floor Lamp, made of Brass with Colored Tulips, 1950Located in Madrid, ESItalian Brass Articulated Floor Lamp from 1950. Crafted with precision and elegance, this Italian floor lamp features adjustable arms remi...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsMetal, Brass
- "Luminator" Floor Lamp Designed by Pietro Chiesa for Fontana Arte, 1980sBy Pietro ChiesaLocated in Madrid, ES"Luminator" lamp designed by Pietro Chiesa for Fontana made with lacquered metallic structure. Bibliography S. Montefusco, Fontana Arte Repertorio 1933- 1943 dalle immagini dell'epo...Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsMetal
- Mid-Century Modern Loico Bookcase by Angelo Mangiarotti in White Carrara MarbleBy Angelo Mangiarotti, SkipperLocated in Madrid, ESRare bookcase designed by Angelo Mangiarotti for Skipper. Structure made of Carrara marble. The bookcase is part of the "Loico collection" for the Skipper factory Italy 1970s . Compo...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Shelves
MaterialsCarrara Marble
- Angelo Mangiarotti Mid-Century Modern Serie Eros Marble Italian Side TableBy Angelo MangiarottiLocated in Madrid, ESArabescato marble side table designed by Angelo Mangiarotti. The table belong to the "Eros" series that he designed for Skipper in Italy in the 1970s. Original label. Angelo Mangiarotti was born in Milan on 26th of February 1921. He graduated in Architecture in 1948 at Politecnico di Milano. In 1953-1954 he works in the United States, participating also to the competition for Chicago "LOOP". While leaving abroad he knew Frank Lloyd Wright, Walter Gropius, Mies van der Rohe and Konrad Wachsmann...Category
Antique 1670s Italian Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsMarble
- Organic Shapped Palm Tree Natural Rattan Floor LampLocated in Madrid, ESThis floor lamp, originating from Italy in the 1980s, showcases an elegant blend of materials and nature-inspired design. Crafted from bamboo and braided rattan, the lamp takes on th...Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Floor Lamps
MaterialsBamboo, Rattan
- Mid-Century Modern Italian Armchairs By Gigi Radice for Minotti, 1950sBy Gigi RadiceLocated in Madrid, ESPair of armchairs designed by Gigi Radice for Minotti with a solid wood structure and metal legs. Upholstered in Dedar jacquard velvet, originall...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsMetal
- Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamp by Angelo Lelli, 1950sBy Angelo LeliiLocated in Brussels, BEMid-Century Modern Floor Lamp by Angelo Lelli, 1950sCategory
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsMetal
- Angelo Lelli Floor Lamp - Model 12635, by Arredoluce, Italy, 1950s.By Angelo Lelii, ArredoluceLocated in Wolfurt, ATAngelo Lelli Floor Lamp Model 12635 - Manufactured by Arredoluce, Italy, 1950s. The brass lamp has a marble base and satinated glass shades. The floor light switch carries the engrav...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsMarble, Brass
- Vintage Italian Floor Lamp by Angelo Lelli for Arredoluce, 1950sBy Arredoluce, Angelo LeliiLocated in Lisboa, PTThis elegant floor lamp was designed by Angelo Lelli for Arredoluce, in Italy, during the 1950's. It has seven slender satin glass diffusers that are set on curved brass arms...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsBrass
- Mid Century Floor Lamp by Angelo Lelli for Arredoluce Made in Italy circa 1950'sBy Angelo Lelii, ArredoluceLocated in New York, NYClassic Mid Century chrome, black and marble floor lamp, designed by Angelo Lelli, made in Italy by Arredoluce, circa 1950's. The lamp features three chrome ball shades, which are movable and mount on magnetic bases, the steel vertical post mounts on a marble disk...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsMarble, Steel, Chrome
- Italian Floor Lamp by Angelo Lelli for ArredoluceBy Arredoluce, Angelo LeliiLocated in Middlesex, NJItalian floor lamp by Angelo Lelli for Arredoluce.Category
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
- Arredoluce Triennale Floor Lamp by Angelo Lelli, ItalyBy Angelo Lelii, ArredoluceLocated in San Francisco, CAArredoluce Triennale floor lamp designed by Angelo Lelli, Italy. Rare early example of this now iconic Angelo Lelli design for Arredoluce in very good original condition with origi...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsBrass, Enamel