1950s Gerald Thurston Lightolier Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount Light Fixtures - Set of 3

Description

A set of three very RARE Gerald Thurston for LIGHTOLIER Starlight Cone light fixtures.


Designed around the 1950s, they have … more A set of three very RARE Gerald Thurston for LIGHTOLIER Starlight Cone light fixtures.


Designed around the 1950s, they have a starlight pinhole design with a beautiful goldtone finish. Each anodized aluminum shade cone retains its original concentric ring and glass diffuser. These are very rare and difficult to find, especially as a set of three.

7 1/2" H (Tall)

5 1/4" across open end

4 3/8" across the top (wiring)

4" glass diffuser


----------
Gerald Thurston As the leading designer atLightolierduring the postwar building and design boom,GeraldThurston created his cleverlighting sleekfloor lamps,table lampsanddesk lamps to suit the American lifestyles of 1950s and 1960s. His designs were at the forefront of themid-century modernlighting revolution likemuch of the visionary workbeing done at the time in furniture and interiors, Thurstons 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 Schooll of the Art Institute of Chicagodurin in 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 atthe Neww Metal Craft Company. Ther, 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 YorksMuseum of Modern Artfeatured a green floor lamp of his in theirGood Design Exhibition of 1950. The sculptural lamps that Thurston created for Lightolier are representative of his interest inScandinavian modernistlighting 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 founderGino Sarfatti.) During Thurstons 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.



Lightolier, founded in 1904 in New York and family-operated through most of its history,Lightolierwas one of the pioneering American electric lighting companies, best known for its embrace of stylistic and technical innovations. Collectors focus onvintage Lightolier lighting fixturesproduced from the 1950s and into the 1970s, when an in-house design team led byGerald Thurston and a stellar cast of international design contributors created an array of practical yet aesthetically livelytable lamps,floor lamps,sconcesandchandeliers. 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 ofGino Sarfattiand his Italian lighting firmArteluce, towards simpler lamp designs that offered flexibility of function. His best-known designs include the cricket task light and a lamp with an adjustable enameled metal hood that toggles on a slender bent-metal base and the three-leggedTripod 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 asPaavo 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 Lustigwas 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 byMichael Laxin 1964, the Lytegem high-intensity lamp included in the permanent collection of theMuseum 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 byGaetano Sciolari, with details such as acrylic diffusers and vertical, two-bulb arms, would define the look of lighting in their day. less