Extremely iconic in its simplicity, the suspension lamp made up of a chromed brass tube ending in an opal glass sphere is one of the trendiest lighting elements, currently loved by interior designers and reinterpreted by contemporary designers in multiple versions and materials. Yet, in the history of design, it is not known exactly who was the actual creator of a solution as simple as it is effective, which appeared on the scene in the early 20th c. as one of the first lighting fixture projects developed for electric bulbs. The projects made by important Bauhaus exponents such as Marianne Brandt and Hans Przyrembel were certainly inspired by this type of lamp, a frequent presence in schools and offices during the 20s and 30s, just as the spherical lamp typology regularly illuminated interior designs by architects such as Peter Behrens, Adolf Loos and Josef Hoffmann. Extremely faithful to the original and workhorse of the Tecnolumen company, that has been producing it since the 80s, is the HL99 spherical lamp.

Rare and highly sought-after by vintage collectors for its unmistakable symbolic Art Nouveau style, the Wisteria Table Lamp created by Tiffany in 1901 was created by a woman, Clara Driscoll, head of the glass team at Tiffany Studios and author of other great classics signed by the company, such as Dragonfly and Poppy. In 2013 Sotheby's sold an original Tiffany Wisteria lamp for $1.56 million! With a lampshade of nearly 2,000 pieces of iridescent Favrile (handmade) glass of various thicknesses arranged by hand and cut in the shape of a petal, factors that make each Wisteria specimen different and therefore unique in the world, the lamp had to simulate a wisteria in bloom, and is the result of the work of a totally female glass cutting team, the "Tiffanys Girls": it is in fact said, that the company attributed to women a better understanding of color.

We dive into the best of Scandinavian masters design with the PH5 ceiling lamp designed by the Danish Poul Henningsen for Louis Poulsen company, a combination of formal complexity and functionality that well represents the Nordic style which traditionally mixes beauty and practicality. Unmistakable for its concentric elements that contain and direct the glare giving life to different shades of light, the PH5 was born after 10 years of experiments and tests in order to produce a warm and comfortable light, and was presented for the first time at the Paris decorative arts exhibition in 1924. The success was immediate, so much so that the lamp was soon declined by Henningsen in table and floor versions, and in different colors, which continue to stand out in the repertoire of the contemporary home to illuminate its most welcoming corners.

Often purchased in pairs or in groups that enhance its value as an object suspended between art and design, the Fungo table lamp created by Massimo Vignelli for Venini in 1956 is one of the most iconic and precious made in Italy vintage lights, made of glass hand blown and decorated with white strips (the “canne” technique). Characterized by the continuity between the base and the lampshade through a rounded shape that recalls a mushroom, automatically underlining the playful and enveloping character of this lamp, it represents an innovation in the language that is adopted by much of the midcentury design onwards. In the same year of its creation, Fungo received an honorable mention at the Compasso D'Oro award.