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Fluorescent Desk Lamp

Gunmetal Grey Machine Age Tanker Fluorescent Desk Lamp
Located in Van Nuys, CA
1950s gunmetal grey fluorescent machine age tanker desk lamp with lots of character, perfect on a
Category

Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps

Materials

Steel

Midcentury Brown Enamel Fluorescent Gooseneck Desk Lamp by Art Specialty
Located in Van Nuys, CA
Midcentury chocolate brown metal fluorescent gooseneck flex arm adjustable tanker desk lamp with
Category

Vintage 1950s American Industrial Table Lamps

Materials

Steel

Art Deco Machine Age Chrome Adjustable Flourescent Desk Lamp
Located in Van Nuys, CA
Art Deco fluorescent Brown/Grey enameled desk table lamp with streamlined shaped body and Machine
Category

Vintage 1950s Table Lamps

Materials

Metal

Recent Sales

Vintage 1970s Tan Adjustable Desk Lamp by Park Sherman
By Park Sherman
Located in Brooklyn, NY
A vintage 1970s Space Age Park Sherman fluorescent desk lamp with tan molded plastic shade
Category

Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps

Materials

Metal

Vintage Craftsman Style Polished Copper Fluorescent Desk Lamp
Located in Van Nuys, CA
Vintage craftsman style polished copper fluorescent desk lamp comes fixed to an oak base. Mid
Category

Vintage 1940s American Art Deco Table Lamps

Materials

Copper

Post War Fluorescent Desk Lamp with Clock by Telechron
Located in Van Nuys, CA
Authentic Art Deco brown hooded fluorescent desk lamp with the clock. The face of the clock reads
Category

Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps

Materials

Metal

Vintage Yellow Fluorescent Desk Lamp, 1970s
Located in ROTTERDAM, ZH
Very special yellow fluorescent space age table lamp. The lamp can be positioned in any way
Category

20th Century Table Lamps

Materials

Metal

Vintage Yellow Fluorescent Desk Lamp, 1970s
Vintage Yellow Fluorescent Desk Lamp, 1970s
H 16.93 in W 16.93 in D 5.91 in
Graphic Metal Desk Lamp by Tensor
By Tensor
Located in Sagaponack, NY
An architectural, graphic and well-crafted red and yellow tensor fluorescent desk lamp. Made in USA
Category

Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps

Materials

Steel

Graphic Metal Desk Lamp by Tensor
Graphic Metal Desk Lamp by Tensor
H 12.5 in W 18 in D 6 in
Art Deco Enameled Steel Chromed and Tanker Florescent Desk Lamp
Located in Van Nuys, CA
Art Deco enameled steel Tanker fluorescent desk lamp with chrome accents. Circa 1940.
Category

Vintage 1940s American Table Lamps

Materials

Steel

Cifer | Industrial fluorescent tube desk lamp(s)
Located in Amsterdam, NL
We ship this item insured, door to door, for $149 outside Europe. Industrial desk lamp. Aluminium
Category

20th Century European Table Lamps

Rare and Important Peter Pfisterer Gooseneck Lamp
Located in New York, NY
the seminal 1941 MoMA Organic Design Competition; his gooseneck lamp and a fluorescent desk lamp were
Category

Vintage 1940s American Table Lamps

Materials

Aluminum

Rental Fee: Italian Fluorescent Desk Lamp.
Located in New York, NY
Ron Rezek Black and White 110 Table Lamp
By Ron Rezek
Located in Chicago, IL
Ron Rezek black and white 110 Table Lamp. Rare fluorescent desk lamp with white enameled metal
Category

Vintage 1980s American Post-Modern Table Lamps

Materials

Metal

Vintage Luxo Architect's Lamp
By Luxo
Located in Brooklyn, NY
A vintage cream colored Luxo fluorescent desk lamp that screams mid-Century Modern. In excellent
Category

Late 20th Century Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps

Materials

Metal

Vintage Luxo Architect's Lamp
Vintage Luxo Architect's Lamp
H 34 in W 16 in L 34 in
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Fluorescent Desk Lamp For Sale on 1stDibs

Choose from an assortment of styles, material and more with respect to the fluorescent desk lamp you’re looking for at 1stDibs. A fluorescent desk lamp — often made from metal, aluminum and plastic — can elevate any home. If you’re shopping for a fluorescent desk lamp, we have 26 options in-stock, while there are 1 modern editions to choose from as well. Your living room may not be complete without a fluorescent desk lamp — find older editions for sale from the 18th Century and newer versions made as recently as the 21st Century. Each fluorescent desk lamp bearing mid-century modern, Art Deco or Scandinavian Modern hallmarks is very popular. A well-made fluorescent desk lamp has long been a part of the offerings for many furniture designers and manufacturers, but those produced by Anders Pehrson, Ateljé Lyktan and Jorgen Moller are consistently popular.

How Much is a Fluorescent Desk Lamp?

A fluorescent desk lamp can differ in price owing to various characteristics — the average selling price 1stDibs is $860, while the lowest priced sells for $216 and the highest can go for as much as $30,839.

Finding the Right Table-lamps for You

Well-crafted antique and vintage table lamps do more than provide light; the right fixture-and-table combination can add a focal point or creative element to any interior.

Proper table lamps have long been used for lighting our most intimate spaces. Perfect for lighting your nightstand or reading nook, table lamps play an integral role in styling an inviting room. In the years before electricity, lamps used oil. Today, a rewired 19th-century vintage lamp can still provide a touch of elegance for a study.

After industrial milestones such as mass production took hold in the Victorian era, various design movements sought to bring craftsmanship and innovation back to this indispensable household item. Lighting designers affiliated with Art Deco, which originated in the glamorous roaring ’20s, sought to celebrate modern life by fusing modern metals with dark woods and dazzling colors in the fixtures of the era. The geometric shapes and gilded details of vintage Art Deco table lamps provide an air of luxury and sophistication that never goes out of style.

After launching in 1934, Anglepoise lamps soon became a favorite among modernist architects and designers, who interpreted the fixture as “a machine for lighting,” just as Le Corbusier had reimagined the house as “a machine for living in.” The popular task light owed to a collaboration between a vehicle-suspension engineer by the name of George Carwardine and a West Midlands springs manufacturer, Herbert Terry & Sons

Some mid-century modern table lamps, particularly those created by the likes of Joe Colombo and the legendary lighting artisans at Fontana Arte, bear all the provocative hallmarks associated with Space Age design. Sculptural and versatile, the Louis Poulsen table lamps of that period were revolutionary for their time and still seem innovative today

If you are looking for something more contemporary, industrial table lamps are demonstrative of a newly chic style that isn’t afraid to pay homage to the past. They look particularly at home in any rustic loft space amid exposed brick and steel beams.

Before you buy a desk lamp or table lamp for your living room, consider your lighting needs. The Snoopy lamp, designed in 1967, or any other “banker’s lamp” (shorthand for the Emeralite desk lamps patented by H.G. McFaddin and Company), provides light at a downward angle that is perfect for writing, while the Fontana table lamp and the beloved Grasshopper lamp by Greta Magnusson-Grossman each yield a soft and even glow. Some table lamps require lampshades to be bought separately.

Whether it’s a classic antique Tiffany table lamp, a Murano glass table lamp or even a bold avant-garde fixture custom-made by a contemporary design firm, the right table lamp can completely transform a room. Find the right one for you on 1stDibs.

Questions About Fluorescent Desk Lamp
  • 1stDibs ExpertOctober 26, 2021
    The best desk lamp is a matter of preference — the right fixture can help you work more efficiently while also reducing eye strain. LED desk lamps in the 2700K to 4500K color temperature range often provide a warm and pleasing light under which to work. Shop a collection of antique, vintage, and modern desk lamps from some of the world’s top dealers on 1stDibs.
  • 1stDibs ExpertMarch 22, 2024

    No one knows for sure who invented the desk lamp, as many engineers worked on designs for lamps during the 1920s. Many experts cite the Anglepoise lamp, however, as the earliest iteration of the modern desk lamp. Since its 1934 debut, this ingenious task light has become one of the most celebrated examples of industrial design. 

    How the Anglepoise came to be is the stuff of design legend: In 1932, a vehicle-suspension engineer by the name of George Carwardine joined forces with a West Midlands springs manufacturer, Herbert Terry & Sons, to create a mechanism by which opposed springs would, as Carwardine explained, exert a “unidirectional constant force” on a pivoted lever that could counteract the force of gravity.

    This invention was not destined for an auto but for a lamp Carwardine was developing. The innovation would allow the piece’s articulated arm to be moved with ease to almost any position and remain there. As the product of engineering acumen rather than fashion, the Anglepoise soon became a favorite among modernist architects and designers, who interpreted it as “a machine for lighting,” just as Le Corbusier had reimagined the house as “a machine for living in.”

    The Angelpoise's rivals include the 1930 Bestlite, which was one of the earliest Bauhaus-influenced designs, created by Robert Dudley Best, who had studied under Walter Gropius at the Bauhaus in Dessau. German modernist Karl Trabert’s 1930s desk lamp for Schanzenbach & Co. was notable for its domed shade above a hinged arm.

    Find vintage table lamps and other lighting on 1stDibs.

  • 1stDibs ExpertSeptember 28, 2021
    A good desk lamp is going to make a substantial difference in any home, office or studio. The ideal desk lamp should provide apt task lighting, be easy to use, and also be aesthetically pleasing. Find a wide range of unique and elegant desk lamps on 1stDibs today.
  • 1stDibs ExpertOctober 5, 2021
    There are many types of best LED desk lamps for your home — it's really a matter of preference. On 1stDibs, there are modern, mid-century modern desk lamps and other lighting to choose from.
  • 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022
    British designer George Carwardine designed the Anglepoise desk lamp. Before creating the light fixture, he worked as an engineer designing automobile suspension systems. The first Anglepoise lamps debuted in 1931. You can find a variety of Anglepoise desk lamps on 1stDibs.
  • 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022
    The desk lamps with the green shade are called banker’s lamps. Banker’s lamps are green because it is believed the color helps to encourage concentration and is mentally soothing. It is also said that green helps with eye strain. You can shop a selection of banker’s lamps from some of the world’s top sellers on 1stDibs.

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