1950s Gerald Thurston Triennale Floor Lamp for Lightolier, USA
About the Item
- Creator:Gerald Thurston (Designer),Lightolier (Maker)
- Dimensions:Height: 63.39 in (161 cm)Diameter: 19.69 in (50 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1950
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:London, GB
- Reference Number:
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.
Lightolier
Founded in 1904 in New York and family-operated through most of its history, Lightolier was one of the pioneering American electric lighting companies, best known for its embrace of stylistic and technical innovations.
Collectors focus on vintage Lightolier lighting fixtures produced from the 1950s and into the 1970s, when an in-house design team led by Gerald Thurston — and a stellar cast of international design contributors — created an array of practical yet aesthetically lively table lamps, floor lamps, sconces and chandeliers.
Amidst the post-World War II building boom, Lightolier — the name combines “light” and “chandelier” — aggressively boosted its residential lighting division. Thurston, who was strongly influenced by the sleek designs of Gino Sarfatti and his Italian lighting firm Arteluce, towards simpler lamp designs that offered flexibility of function. His best-known designs include the Cricket task light — a lamp with an adjustable enameled metal hood that toggles on a slender bent-metal base — and the three-legged Tripod floor lamp. At the same time, Thurston had a wonderful eye for talent and sought work from some of the lesser-known greats of the era, such as Paavo Tynell, the Finnish lighting designer, who designed several brass chandeliers for Lightolier with his trademark elegant flamboyance.
And more, Thurston recognized abilities in designers not known for their work in lighting.
Edward Wormley, head of furniture design for Dunbar, produced several noteworthy chandeliers employing canisters and reflective hoods. Alvin Lustig was famed as a graphic designer. His ca. 1953 Ring ceiling fixture for Lightolier had a minimalist techno look some 30 years ahead of its time. But this was par. Designed by Michael Lax in 1964, the Lytegem high-intensity lamp — included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art — features a ball-shaped shade attached with a chromed armature to a cubic base, a form that would be widely copied in the following decade. Chandeliers designed in the early 1970s by Gaetano Sciolari, with details such as acrylic diffusers and vertical, two-bulb arms, would define the look of lighting in their day.
A look through these pages reveals just how astonishingly wide a range of lighting pieces Lightolier produced. The company never flicked off its stylistic switch.
Find a collection of vintage Lightolier lamps and other lighting fixtures on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: London, United Kingdom
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 1 day of delivery.
- Mid Century Italian Triform Brass Column Floor Lamp Italy, C.1950Located in London, GBA mid century Italian Triform brass reeded column floor lamp Italy, C.1950.Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Floor Lamps
MaterialsMetal, Brass
- French Art Deco Wooden Floor Lamp c.1930Located in London, GBA French Art Deco wooden floor lamp C.1930 Constructed from turned solid beech wood. Presented in excellent vintage condition. Shade not included (for illustrative purposes only).Category
Early 20th Century French Art Deco Floor Lamps
MaterialsBeech
- French Lucite and Gilt Floor Lamp Hollywood Regency, C.1970Located in London, GBA French lucite and gilt floor lamp C.1970 Elegant Hollywood Regency neo-classical Design In excellent condition commensurate of age.Category
20th Century French Hellenistic Floor Lamps
MaterialsLucite
- Pair Tall English Art Deco Chrome Uplighter Floor LampsBy ZumtobelLocated in London, GBPair Of English Art Deco chrome tall uplighter floor lamps by Thorn Electrical Industries, England. C.1930 (later to be acquired by the Austrian ...Category
20th Century English Art Deco Floor Lamps
MaterialsChrome
- Mid-Century Modern Turned Gilded Brass Table Lamp Italy, C.1950Located in London, GBA Mid-Century Modern Turned Gilded Brass table lamp Italy, C.1950. In very good vintage condition commensurate of age. Shade not included (Fo...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsBrass
- Neoclassical Urn Shaped Marble Table Lamp Italy, C.1950Located in London, GBNeoclassical urn shaped marble table lamp Italy, C.1950 Neoclassical urn form table lamp. Veined marble example on a stepped square base....Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Neoclassical Table Lamps
MaterialsMarble
- Modernist Triennale Floor Lamp by Gerald Thurston for LightolierBy Lightolier, Gerald ThurstonLocated in Buffalo, NYBeautiful and extremely well made three shade floor lamp designed by Gerald Thurston for Lightolier. Made of brass and black painted metal, each shade retains its original metal swir...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsMetal, Brass
- 1950s Torchère Floor Lamp by Gerald Thurston for LightolierBy Lightolier, Gerald ThurstonLocated in Sagaponack, NYClassic uplight torchère floor lamp with three vertical brass rods supporting a shallow brass bowl and wider glass shade. The base designed by Gerald Thurston with a textured, fire a...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsBrass
- Gerald Thurston for Lightolier Brass Tripod Floor Lamp, 1950sBy Gerald Thurston, LightolierLocated in Bainbridge, NYEarly Gerald Thurston for Lightolier Brass Tripod Reading Floor Lamp with White Linen Shade. Featuring a joined tripod, three legged patinated Brass framework, Off-White enameled dif...Category
Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsBrass, Metal
- 1950s Gerald Thurston Floor Lamp for LightolierBy Gerald ThurstonLocated in Esperance, NY1950s Gerald Thurston floor lamp for Lightolier.Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsMetal
- Gerald Thurston for Lightolier, Triennale Floor Lamp. 1960sBy Gerald ThurstonLocated in Clifton Springs, NYGerald Thurston Triennale Floor Lamp. This is a well known iconic design. Lamp, undergone a good deal of cleaning. Sockets were replaced with premium UL listed units. All lights wo...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsBrass, Steel
- Gerald Thurston for Lightolier Floor LampBy Lightolier, Gerald ThurstonLocated in Hanover, MAMid-1950's three light floor lamp produced by Lightolier and designed by Gerald Thurston. The style of the pierced polished brass tapered bowls appears to have been influenced by the...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsCopper, Brass