Gino Sarfatti Wall Lights and Sconces

Italian, 1912-1985

That a spiky, futuristic chandelier named “Sputnik,” which was highly suggestive of the Soviet satellite of the same name, designed by an Italian engineer could predate the space age and the satellite’s launch by a few decades is the stuff of legend. But in 1939, Venetian-born Gino Sarfatti channeled his obsession with light and expert engineering skills into a design so bold it predicted the future. He would go on to design around 700 lighting products in his lifetime — each table lamp, wall light, pendant and chandelier superb and unorthodox in shape.

Sarfatti’s singular focus on creating opulent lighting designs that were rational in their use of resources makes him one of the most innovative lighting designers in history. He was studying to be an aeronautical engineer at the University of Genoa when his family’s financial troubles led him to drop out and move to Milan to help. During this time, he built a lamp for a friend using a coffee machine’s electric components and a glass vase. This exercise sparked his fascination with lighting, and he went on to found Arteluce in 1939. What followed was a period of working with skilled artisans and tinkering with materials instead of sketching. The self-taught designer soon established himself as a creator of provocative, sculptural luxury lighting. Through the company, he collaborated with some of the 20th century’s most influential designers, such as Vittoriano Viganò, who worked on Arteluce lighting between 1946 and 1960. In the 1950s and ’70s, Franco Albini, Franca Helg, Ico Parisi and Massimo Vignelli all contributed designs.

Sarfatti used resources mindfully and injected functionality into everything he designed. His light fixtures were lightweight, easy to take apart and reassemble and could be affordably repaired. This marriage of utilitarianism and glamour lent Sarfatti’s designs a clean, minimal yet arresting splendor, based on their graphical forms and construction.

After World War II, Sarfatti embraced new wiring technologies and materials like plexiglass, such as his 1972 project with Carlo Mollino that filled the Teatro Regio in Turin with hundreds of plexiglass pipes. In 1973, Sarfatti sold Arteluce to FLOS. His foresight, invention and fearlessness as a designer are revered to this day.

Find a collection of vintage Gino Sarfatti lighting now on 1stDibs.

Creator: Gino Sarfatti

Pair of Gino Sarfatti Model 237/1 Wall Lamps in Black for Astep

$2,080 / set

Pair of Gino Sarfatti Model 237/1 Wall Lamps in Black for Astep

By Flos, Gino Sarfatti, Astep

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Pair of Gino Sarfatti model 237/1 wall lamps in black for Astep. Designed in 1959, this is an authorized Astep/Flos re-edition by Alessandro Sarfatti, grandson of Gino Sarfatti, who applies his grandfather's scrupulous attention to detail and materials to offer a tightly curated selection of iconic lighting originally produced by Arteluce. Executed in a single opaline glass sphere held in place by a sculptural painted metal structure. The Le Sfere collection is the largest product family by Gino Sarfatti with models that have developed over time, from the first single sphere, Model 237, to the iconic twenty-four-sphere chandelier. All created from the same fundamental principle: a beautiful interpretation of the perfect luminous sphere. Price is per pair. Available to order in unlimited quantities with a choice of opaline glass globe paired...

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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Gino Sarfatti Wall Lights and Sconces

Materials

Steel, Aluminum

Wall lamp mod. ''262'' by Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce, 1960s

$1,761

Wall lamp mod. ''262'' by Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce, 1960s

By Gino Sarfatti, Arteluce

Located in Quarrata, IT

Wall lamp mod. ''262'' by Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce, 1960s.

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1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gino Sarfatti Wall Lights and Sconces

Materials

Steel

228 Wall lamp by Sarfatti for Arteluce

$2,935

228 Wall lamp by Sarfatti for Arteluce

By Gino Sarfatti, Arteluce

Located in Milano, IT

228 wall lamp designed by Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce, one of the most renowned Italian lighting manufacturers. Produced in the 1950s, this stunning piece features a sleek and moderni...

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1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gino Sarfatti Wall Lights and Sconces

Materials

Aluminum

Gino Sarfatti model 169/4 wall lamp Arteluce Italy 1952

$52,258 / item

Gino Sarfatti model 169/4 wall lamp Arteluce Italy 1952

By Gino Sarfatti, Arteluce

Located in Roosendaal, Noord Brabant

Impressive wall lamp model 169/4 designed by Gino Sarfatti and manufactured by Arteluce, Italy 1952. This large sized wall lamp comes from a series of wall lamps designed by Gino Sar...

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1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gino Sarfatti Wall Lights and Sconces

Materials

Aluminum, Chrome

Gino Sarfatti wall lamp model 3 Arteluce Italy 1950

$4,638

Gino Sarfatti wall lamp model 3 Arteluce Italy 1950

By Gino Sarfatti, Arteluce

Located in Roosendaal, Noord Brabant

Rare Model 3 wall lamp designed by Gino Sarfatti and manufactured by Arteluce Italy 1950. This wall lamp by Gino Sarfatti is super rare, and you hardly ever find it for sale. It's go...

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1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gino Sarfatti Wall Lights and Sconces

Materials

Metal, Aluminum, Chrome

Gino Sarfatti Arteluce Couple Sconces Glass Metal Painted, 1955, Italy

$4,110 / set

Gino Sarfatti Arteluce Couple Sconces Glass Metal Painted, 1955, Italy

By Gino Sarfatti

Located in Milano, IT

Gino Sarfatti Arteluce sconces glass metal painted, 1955, Italy.

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1950s Italian Other Vintage Gino Sarfatti Wall Lights and Sconces

Materials

Glass

Gino Sarfatti 238/1 Wall Lamp for Arteluce, Italy, 1952

$3,683 / set

Gino Sarfatti 238/1 Wall Lamp for Arteluce, Italy, 1952

By Gino Sarfatti

Located in London, GB

Gino Sarfatti (1912-1985) has been hailed as the ‘master of light’. Entirely self-taught, he developed nearly 700 light fittings between the 1930s and 1970s after a brief spell in na...

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1950s Italian Modern Vintage Gino Sarfatti Wall Lights and Sconces

Materials

Metal

Gino Sarfatti Wall/Table Lamp Model 7 Arteluce, 1957

$1,702

Gino Sarfatti Wall/Table Lamp Model 7 Arteluce, 1957

By Arteluce, Gino Sarfatti

Located in Roosendaal, Noord Brabant

Rare wall/table lamp version of model 7 designed by Gino Sarfatti, manufactured by Arteluce, Italy 1957. I have never seen this fairly unique version before. T...

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1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gino Sarfatti Wall Lights and Sconces

Materials

Aluminum, Metal

Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce, Pair of Model 225 White Wall Lights, 1957

$15,778 / set

Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce, Pair of Model 225 White Wall Lights, 1957

By Gino Sarfatti, Arteluce

Located in Wargrave, Berkshire

Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce, a pair of wall lights, model 225 designed in 1957. Each stationary white lacquered aluminium reflector is supported by a brass rectangular wall mount 35...

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1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gino Sarfatti Wall Lights and Sconces

Materials

Aluminum, Brass

Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce, Rare Early Triple Wall Light, circa 1940

$3,910

Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce, Rare Early Triple Wall Light, circa 1940

By Gino Sarfatti, Arteluce

Located in Wargrave, Berkshire

Rare early triple wall light by Sarfatti for Arteluce, as shown in a photograph advertising Arteluce's stand at the VII Triennale, Milano in Domus issue #149, 1940 Three white paint...

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1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gino Sarfatti Wall Lights and Sconces

Materials

Metal

Gino Sarfatti Italian Wall Light Pair of Triple Sconces 237/3 Mid-Century Modern

$5,754 / item

Gino Sarfatti Italian Wall Light Pair of Triple Sconces 237/3 Mid-Century Modern

By Gino Sarfatti

Located in Barcelona, ES

Gino Sarfatti (1912-1985) Pair of triple sconces model “237/3” Manufactured by Arteluce Italy, 1959 Painted iron, aluminum, glass. Measurements: 28 cm x 46 cm x 21 H cm eac...

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1950s Italian Vintage Gino Sarfatti Wall Lights and Sconces

Materials

Iron

White Perspex and Black Metal Italian Midcentury Wall Lamps by Gino Sarfatti

$8,103 / item

White Perspex and Black Metal Italian Midcentury Wall Lamps by Gino Sarfatti

By Gino Sarfatti

Located in Barcelona, ES

Gino Sarfatti (1912-1985) Pair of wall lamps (two pairs available) (Price per Light not per pair.) Manufactured by Arteluce Italy, 1950 Perspex and painted metal Measurements: 17.8 cm x 22.9 cm x 8.9 cm 7 in x 9 in x 4.5 in Literature: MarCo Romanelli and Sandra Severi, Gino Sarfatti: selected works 1938-1973, Milan, 2012 Details: Each with manufacturer’s paper label (2) Bio: Rising above the devastation of World War II, post-war Italian design reached new heights of productivity and ingenuity, particularly in the realm of lighting. Gino Sarfatti is among the most celebrated lighting designers from this fruitful period. Before founding his company Arteluce in 1939, Sarfatti studied aeronautical engineering. He brought the inventiveness of a self-taught outsider to the field of lighting design, while his mechanical background lent lightness and ingenuity of construction. Poetic underpinnings are also evident in lamps such as model no. 1034 (sometimes referred to as the “Vine” lamp...

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1960s Italian Vintage Gino Sarfatti Wall Lights and Sconces

Materials

Metal

Mid-Century Modern Pair of Wall Lights by Gino Sarfatti, 1960s

$4,403 / set

Mid-Century Modern Pair of Wall Lights by Gino Sarfatti, 1960s

By Gino Sarfatti

Located in Brussels, BE

Mid-Century Modern Pair of Wall Lights by Gino Sarfatti, 1960s

Category

1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gino Sarfatti Wall Lights and Sconces

Materials

Metal

Pair of Gino Sarfatti Design Arteluce Italy Production Set Two Wall Lamps 327/2

$5,871

Pair of Gino Sarfatti Design Arteluce Italy Production Set Two Wall Lamps 327/2

By Gino Sarfatti

Located in Biella, IT

Gino Sarfatti design for Arteluce Italy production set of two wall lamps 327/2 year '59 Measure 48 cm long x 20 cm high x 28 cm deep = 19 inches long x 82 height x 11" deep M...

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1950s Italian Space Age Vintage Gino Sarfatti Wall Lights and Sconces

Materials

Metal

Gino Sarfatti wall lights and sconces for sale on 1stDibs.

Gino Sarfatti wall lights and sconces are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of metal and are designed with extraordinary care. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Gino Sarfatti wall lights and sconces, although beige editions of this piece are particularly popular. We have 100 vintage editions of these items in-stock, while there is 6 modern edition to choose from as well. Many of the original wall lights and sconces by Gino Sarfatti were created in the mid-century modern style in europe during the 20th century. If you’re looking for additional options, many customers also consider wall lights and sconces by Barovier&Toso, Arteluce, and Gaetano Sciolari.