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Luciano Vistosi Onfale table lamp – 1992 Artemide Catalogue Picture
On this page of the catalogue: the Luciano Vistosi Onfale table lamp series, together with the Nestore table lamp designed by Carlo Forcolini, the Pausania table lamp, an Ettore Sottsass design and the Shogun table lamp, a design by Mario Botta.
VLM Components
The wiring, plug, switch and socket of this Luciano Vistosi Onfale table lamp were made by VLM Components from Buccinasco near Milan, Italy in the 1970s, early 80s.
VLM Components became famous for the switches they produce since 1968, designed by Achille Castiglioni. You can find them over here.
VLM is part of the Relco Group, founded in 1967. Today they are the owners of the brands Relco, Leuci, Relco Lighting, VLM Components and Segno.
Lamps In The Movies
Appunti Di Un Venditore Di Donne (2021)
A Luciano Vistosi Onfale table lamp was used as a set decoration in the 2021 Italian film Appunti Di Un Venditore Di Donne (Notes Of A Female Salesman). Starring Mario Sgueglia, Miriam Dalmazio and Libero De Rienzo. Many other Italian lamps appear in this movie.
La Migliore Offerta (2013)
A Luciano Vistosi Onfale table lamp was used as a set decoration in the 2013 Italian film La Migliore Offerta (The Best Offer). Starring Geoffrey Rush, Jim Sturgess and Sylvia Hoeks.
Links (external links open in a new window)
Luciano Vistosi in the Murano glass Museum
Biography on the Murano Glass Museum website
Inexhibit: The sculpture of Vistosi at the Murano Glass Museum
Onfale table lamp – Artemide website
Luciano Vistosi biography – Artemide website
Artemide design in the MoMA – Museum of Modern Art NY
Murano glass blowing Wikipedia
Appunti Di Un Venditore Di Donne (2021) film – Wikipedia
Appunti Di Un Venditore Di Donne (2021) film – IMDb
La Migliore Offerta (2013) film – Wikipedia
La Migliore Offerta (2013) film – IMDb
Vintageinfo – Luciano Vistosi Lamps
Nessa table lamp – Vistosi
L65 tube pendant lamp – Vistosi
Artemide Lamps
1976 Artemide studioA Catalogue
Other lamps in the Appunti Di Un Venditore Di Donne (2021) film
Luciano Vistosi Onfale Table Lamp
Materials: Round white opal hand blown tubular base. Some metal and plastic parts. White opal hand blown crystal Murano glass mushroom lampshade with a clear glass rim. Made in 1 piece. White painted Bakelite E14 socket.
Height: 26 cm / 10.23”
Width: ∅ 20 cm / 7.87”
Base: ∅ 10 cm / 3.93”
Electricity: 1 bulb E14, 1 x 40 watt maximum, 110/220 volt.
Any type of light bulb can be used. Preferably a white or frosted one.
Period: 1970s – Mid-Century Modern.
Designer: Luciano Vistosi (1931-2010) in 1978.
Manufacturer: Artemide, Pregnana Milanese, near Milan, Italy – Leucos, Murano, Italy.
Other versions: The Luciano Vistosi Onfale table lamp exists in 3 versions. 44 cm, 34,5 and 26 cm high. (17.32”, 13.58” and 10.23”).
A pendant lamp and wall lamp were also made.
The Luciano Vistosi Onfale table lamp was designed for Artemide in 1978. It is in production ever since. This one is a first edition, to see on the wiring made by VLM Components.
The Onfale table lamps are produced by Leucos for Artemide. Sometimes you find them with the 048 Murano label of the company. Vetri Murano numbers can be found on this page.
Luciano Vistosi
“…At home, I rarely heard anyone speak of sculpture: we would only talk about painting. And yet, the forms were there: they were created every day in the furnace. I might say that I have always thought three-dimensionally, in a sculptural way.” (Luciano Vistosi, 2003)
Luciano Vistosi (24 February 1931, Murano – 14 May 2010, Venice) was an Italian glass designer and sculptor closely associated with the post-war renaissance of Murano glass. Born in Venice and raised on the island of Murano, he grew up in his family’s glassworks, where he learned the craft from an early age and became fascinated by the possibilities of molten glass.
After his father’s death in 1952, Vistosi interrupted his studies and, together with his uncle Oreste and his brother Gino, founded the new Vetreria Vistosi. Their aim was to move beyond traditional tourist wares and create glass objects and lighting that reflected the most up-to-date developments in modern design.
As artistic director, Luciano pushed the company in a distinctly contemporary direction, designing many pieces himself and inviting leading architects and designers such as Vico Magistretti, Ettore Sottsass, Marco Zanuso and Gae Aulenti to collaborate.
Vistosi’s own work is marked by a constant search for “absolute” forms and an insistence on the primacy of material over drawing. Being left-handed, he often had to modify tools and working methods to suit his way of handling glass, which encouraged further experimentation. His lamps, vases and everyday objects from the 1950s to the 1970s combine technical sophistication with soft, sculptural lines.
Some of his designs were produced under the pseudonym Michael Red, a name that appears in period catalogues and on pieces such as the Nessa and Galia lamps for Vistosi.
From the late 1960s onward, Vistosi increasingly devoted himself to glass sculpture. His first solo exhibition, held in 1968 at the Galleria Alfieri in Venice, already revealed a mature sculptor with a very personal language. Subsequent solo shows followed in San Francisco, Venice, Cologne and Düsseldorf, and in the early 1980s the Ca’ Pesaro Museum of Modern Art in Venice dedicated a large retrospective to his work, followed by exhibitions in Madrid, Florence, Segovia and Milan.
While he is widely known among design collectors for lighting such as this Onfale table lamp for Artemide (designed in 1978 and still in production today), Vistosi’s later career was dominated by ambitious one-off sculptures in blown and carved glass, sometimes conceived on an architectural scale. In 1994 he created a monumental glass cross, composed of green, lagoon-coloured blocks supported on a bronze stele, for the crypt of the Basilica di San Marco in Venice. He also developed visionary bridge projects in glass and took part in major international exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale and the São Paulo Biennial.
Despite serious illness in his later years, Luciano Vistosi continued to work in his Murano studio until shortly before his death in Venice in 2010. He often remarked that, although his family mostly talked about painting, the true “forms” were born every day in the furnace, and that he had always thought in three dimensions—an attitude that runs through both his lighting designs and his glass sculpture.
Video: Masters of Murano
A portrait of the master glass makers Luciano Vistosi, Lino Tagliapietra and Alfredo Barbini. After a brief view of Venice and Murano, the three artists are displayed in the workplace. Lino Tagliapietra is shown together with sticks, Luciano Vistosi makes a plate and Alfredo Barbini makes a bowl with the use of sticks. While working, all artists discuss their work.
Artemide
In 1960, near Milan, Ernesto Gismondi and Sergio Mazza laid the foundation of Artemide. Right from the start, the company combined technological research with a strong sense of Italian design. Their very first iconic lamp was the Alfa — hence the name — designed around 1959–1960. Emma Schweinberger, Gismondo’s wife, designed the Chi table lamp in 1962. From there, Artemide quickly began collaborating with leading designers. The mid-1960s saw the company make waves with Vico Magistretti’s Eclisse, awarded in 1967, as well as Enzo Mari ’s early contributions such as the Polluce floor lamp, designed together with Anna Fasolis in 1965. The Dalù table lamp (1966 – Vico Magistretti) and the Nesso (1965), designed by Giancarlo Mattioli & Gruppo Architetti Urbanisti Città Nuova, further established Artemid e’s reputation during this formative decade. Other notable designs from the late 1960s include the Lesbo table lamp, a 1967 design by Angelo Mangiarotti, Vico Magistretti’s Telegono (1968), the Pallade pendant by Studio Tetrarch, the Electra table lamp, designed by Giuliana Gramigna in 1968, all reflecting the experimental spirit of the era.
As the 1970s arrived, Artemide introduced what would become one of its most recognisable icons: the Tizio desk lamp, designed by Richard Sapper in 1972. Around the same period, Gae Aulenti designed the Pileino and Mezzopileo lamps, followed by Mezzoracolo in 1973. The famous Sintesi lamp series was designed by Ernesto Gismondi in 1975 and the Area 50 lamp series, a Mario Bellini design from 1975. The decade also saw the introduction of the Onfale lamp in 1978, designed by Luciano Vistosi, marking Artemide ’s growing interest in glass and sculptural forms.
The 1980s marked a phase of international expansion. By 1980, Artemide had established a presence in the United States and continued to attract prominent designers, including Ettore Sottsass. His Callimaco floor lamp and Pausania table lamp, both designed during the 1980s, became distinctive statements within Artemide’s catalogue. Other important designs from this decade include the Polifemo floor lamp by Carlo Forcolini (1983). In 1987, Artemide launched the Tolomeo, designed by Michele De Lucchi and Giancarlo Fassina, which quickly became an icon of functional and timeless design.
During the 1990s, Artemide further expanded its scope by acquiring VeArt, bringing Murano glass expertise into the company. In 1996, Artemide introduced its “The Human Light ” philosophy, focusing on the relationship between light, people and their environment. By the late 1990s, Artemide Architectural was established, bridging product design and large-scale architectural lighting projects. From the 2000s onward, Artemide increasingly focused on LED innovation while reissuing its historic designs within the “Modern Classic ” collection.
In essence, Artemide represents a rich tapestry of Italian lighting history. Whether defined by the minimalist engineering of the Tizio, the organic curves of the Nesso, or the expressive presence of the Callimaco, Artemide has consistently blended design innovation with a deeply human approach to light. It is precisely this balance that makes these lamps — including the Pausania and many others — enduring icons of modern design.
Designers that collaborated with Artemide include, among others, Vico Magistretti, Emma Schweinberger, Gae Aulenti, Richard Sapper, Michele De Lucchi, Giancarlo Fassina, Ettore Sottsass, Enzo Mari, Gio Ponti, Sergio Mazza, Angelo Mangiarotti, Joe Colombo, Sergio Asti, Sergio Favre, Mario Marenco, Adelaide Bonati, Silvio Bonatti, Enrico De Munari, Carla Federspiel, Livio Castiglioni, Piero Castiglioni, Nanda Vigo, Luigi Caccia Dominioni, Mario Botta, Carlo Forcolini, Luciano Vistosi, Neri&Hu, Carlotta de Bevilacqua, Jean Nouvel, Karim Rashid, Neil Poulton, Studio Tetrarch, Zaha Hadid, Ron Arad, Herzog & de Meuron, Issey Miyake, Naoto Fukasawa, Aldo Rossi, Adrien Gardère, Stephen Philips, Carlo Colombo and Giulia Foscari.
Luciano Vistosi Onfale Table Lamp – 2007 Catalogue Picture
Big, medium and small Luciano Vistosi Onfale table lamps together in the 2007 catalogue.
