Gaetano Sciolari Metalarte Table Lamp

Gaetano Sciolari Metalarte table lamp chrome round base white acrylic mushroom lampshade black dimmer 1970s Spainround table lamp with an opal white acrylic Perspex mushroom lampshade + dimmer E14 socket

Gaetano Sciolari Metalarte table lamp chrome round base white acrylic mushroom lampshade black dimmer 1970s Spain

Gaetano Sciolari Metalarte table lamp chrome round base white acrylic mushroom lampshade black dimmer 1970s label

Gaetano Sciolari Metalarte Table Lamp – 1973 Catalogue Picture

Lamps In The Movies

Mediterranean Life (2021) TV Series S2E3

A Gaetano SciolariMetalarte table lamp makes an appearance in an episode of the 2021 TV series Mediterranean Life, in which an American couple from Los Angeles is house hunting in Valencia, Spain. Several other lamps are featured throughout the episode. In this particular scene, a Verona pendant lamp by Sven Middelboe for Nordisk Solar is also visible. A few moments later the Artemide Alcinoo, designed by Gae Aulenti appears.

Materials: Round chromed metal (iron) base with a black plastic bottom and parts. Built-in dimmer on the base with a black rotary knob. White acrylic mushroom lampshade. Metal galvanised E14 socket.

Height: 26 cm / 10.23”

Width: ∅ 24 cm / 9.44”

Electricity: 1 bulb E14, 1 x 60 watt maximum, 110/220 volt.
Any type of light bulb can be used, not a specific one preferred.

Period: 1970s – Mid-Century Modern.

Designer: Gaetano Sciolari.

Manufacturer: Metalarte, Paseo de la Ribera 115, Canovelles, Barcelona, Spain.

Other versions: This Gaetano Sciolari Metalarte table lamp exists in all probability in 1 version. It is model 4917.

Gaetano Sciolari designed several lamps for Metalarte.

Gaetano Sciolari

Angelo Gaetano Sciolari graduated with a degree in architecture but wanted to be a filmmaker. This course came to an abrupt end when in 1949 his father suddenly died and he took over the Sciolari lighting company at the age of 22.

His first designs in the 1950’s were Sputnik inspired pendants; of course it was the space age.

In the 1960’s he created refined, futuristic and sharp classical style chandeliers. Lines were clean and sculptural and materials such as crystal and ice glass sparkled with a voluptuously luxurious coolness and he started combining brass with chrome.

He led the family business with a passionate vision and within years, he expanded the business and started working with other light companies worldwide.

Gaetano Sciolari created lights for Stilnovo, Ecolight,Stilkronen (Italy), Lightolier and Progress Lighting (USA), Metalarte (Spain), S.A. Boulanger (Belgium), Helestra and Leola (West Germany), Lyfa (Denmark) and some other companies and of course for his own Italian family business; the Sciolari company in Rome and Milan; where all the lighting business at that time was present.

Sciolari was the founder and the first president of the trade association of Italian manufacturers of lighting fixtures, the AIDI. The Associazione Italiana di Illuminazione was founded in 1958 and still exists today.

Acrylic

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

The rotary switch on this lamp is made by Leviton, USA.

Metalarte

Metalarte was founded in 1932 in Canovelles, a town about 30 km from Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain. The company started as a metalworking workshop and gradually evolved into one of the most important lighting manufacturers in Spain. From the 1940s onward, Metalarte focused increasingly on functional and architectural lighting, laying the foundations for its later design-oriented identity.

During the 1960s and 1970s, Metalarte went through a major transformation. The company renewed its catalogue and actively collaborated with external designers, embracing contemporary industrial design rather than relying solely on in-house production. In this period, Metalarte also distributed lamps by international manufacturers such as Louis Poulsen (Denmark) and Italian firms including Arteluce and Stilnovo, reflecting its strong international outlook.

Metalarte worked with a wide range of designers who played a key role in shaping Spanish lighting design, including André Ricard, Gaetano Sciolari, Enric Franch, Josep Lluscà, Estudi Blanc, Josep Aregall, Òscar and Sergi Devesa, Antoni Arola, Lievore Altherr Molina, Ricard Ferrer, George W. Hansen, Héctor Serrano, Jordi Llopis, Ana Mir, Emili Padrós, Otto Canalda and Ramón Úbeda.

Several Metalarte designs from the 1970s became international references for functional lighting. A notable example is the Calder halogen lamp (1974) by Enric Franch, which is included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.

Today, Metalarte is part of the Luxonia Group, together with brands such as Troll and Sagelux. While this integration ensured continuity and industrial backing, it also marked the end of Metalarte as an independent, design-driven manufacturer rooted in its original Catalan context.