1950s Handle Table Lamp

1950s handle table lamp Stilux round marble base brass rod yellow & acrylic slice lampshade Italy 1960s

Many thanks to Frank from Flowermountain for the pictures.
Many thanks to Guido Radoccia for all the help.

1950s Handle Table Lamp

Materials: Round Carrara marble base. Brass rod and parts. Light yellow painted rod and parts. White curved acrylic diffuser. Folded, lemon slice style lampshade. Bakelite E27 socket.

Height: 42 cm / 16.53”

Width: 30 x 22 cm / 11.81 x 8.66”

Base: ∅ 12 cm / 4.72”

Electricity: 1 bulb E27, 1 x 60 watt maximum, 110/220 volt.
Any type of light bulb can be used, not a specific one preferred.

Period: 1950s – Mid-Century Modern.

Designer: To be appraised.

Manufacturer: Stilux, Milan, Italy.

Other versions: This 1950s handle table lamp comes in several colours. It can be used as a desk lamp, table lamp or picture lamp. Also produced as a wall lamp and a multi coloured chandelier (light blue, red, light yellow). A floor lamp was also made.

Often attributed to Stilnovo, another Italian company . Stilnovo produced a similar lamp with a curved base and a small curved rod. It has a similar lampshade with a handle. But, both companies are clearly connected to each other.

Stilux produced several lamps with a similar base and rod. Lamps with handles, many of them are picture lights, were made by several companies. Famous lamps in this style were made by Carl Aubock and Maurizio Tempestini, to name a few.

Acrylic: often named by its commercial name: Perspex, Plexiglas, Crylux, Acrylite, Lucite, is a thermoplastic.

Stilux

Unfortunately, very little information is available about the Stilux lighting company. The company no longer exists. According to Ennio Fedele, a former Arredoluce dealer in Trieste, Stilux was founded shortly after the Second World War by Bruno Gatta (1904–1976) from Verona, who developed lamps for both domestic and industrial use. This is written in the book Arredoluce 1943–1987: Catalogue Raisonné. Bruno Gatta later founded Stilnovo in 1946 in Lainate, an industrial suburb of Milan. What happened next with Stilux and Stilnovo, and Gatta’s further role, remains a mystery for now. Fortunately, there is much more information about Stilnovo.

A company called Stilux also exists in Milan, but it has nothing to do with lighting: “Stilux is a company that deals with professional printing and paper converting solutions for communication.”

There was also a company named Sti-lux that produced lamps in the 1990s, but that firm no longer exists either.

There is also a company called Stil-lux Lampadari based in Florence. Founded in 1972 by Marco and Lucia Innocenti, this company is still active. It is responsible, among other things, for the glass-tube “chain” lamps designed by Marco Innocenti, which are almost always attributed to AV Mazzega from Murano and supposedly designed by Aldo Nason. Today, the company operates under the name Stillux and still produces these “Lighting Lab” lamps.

If you have more information about the original Stilux company, please let us know via the contact form and help improve this website’s accuracy.