Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce Rare Sputnik Chandelier Model 2003
About the Item
- Creator:Arteluce (Maker),Gino Sarfatti (Designer)
- Design:
- Dimensions:Height: 41 in (104.14 cm)Diameter: 34 in (86.36 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:Rewired: Recently rewired to U.S. standards including custom ceiling plate. Wear consistent with age and use. in very good condition with some patina to brass.
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:
Sputnik Chandelier
It is fitting that Gino Sarfatti (1912–85) had his sights set on the skies for his ornate and influential Sputnik chandelier. The Venice-born designer and industrialist had been pursuing an aeronautics degree at the University of Genoa when his father encountered financial troubles and relocated the family to Milan, where Sarfatti inadvertently created his first lighting fixture.
After he built a lamp for a friend using a glass vase and a coffee machine’s electrical components, Sarfatti soon became enamored with lighting design. In 1939, opened his Arteluce workshop, followed by a retail space. Working closely with local artisans, he gained valuable technical knowledge and developed hundreds of provocative, pioneering lighting projects that, given economic conditions in pre– and post–World War II Italy, were originally dependent on a cobbling of limited resources. The Sputnik chandelier — artful but constructed from few materials — owes its design to the skills that Sarfatti had honed on the job.
Nickname aside, the ceiling fixture that Sarfatti called Fuoco d'artificio (Italian for “fireworks”) was designed in 1939, nearly 20 years before the Soviet Union launched its Sputnik 1 satellite into orbit. The chandelier wasn’t actually manufactured until the early 1950s — ahead of the satellite's liftoff, mysteriously — but the design was a snug fit for the era's futurist architecture and Pierre Cardin’s flashy vinyl apparel. In the furniture world, the debut of Eero Aarnio’s pod-like Ball chair was imminent, and the space-age frenzy had engulfed popular culture, technology and politics.
In its awe-inspiring arrangement of jutting tubular brass arms and exposed pear-shaped bulbs (some models feature more than 20), Sarfatti’s light was an appropriate addition to the quirky space-age furnishings that had become fashionable in the 1950s. While the designer pursued function and utilitarianism, he was prone to the kind of experimentation that yielded his famous chandelier.
The Sputnik uses suspension cables and metal reflectors in lieu of the parchment lampshades that were commonplace during the early days of Arteluce. In 1973, following collaborations with Franco Albini, Marco Zanuso and others over the years, Sarfatti sold his award-winning company to lighting manufacturer FLOS, while his son, Riccardo, cofounded Luceplan in 1979.
Gino Sarfatti
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.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: New York, NY
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 7 days of delivery.
- Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce Three-Light PendantBy Arteluce, Gino SarfattiLocated in New York, NYGino Sarfatti for Arteluce pendant chandelier with three glass globe lights hung on black perforated enameled metal structures suspended from three-arm canopy. The glass globes are b...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsMetal
- Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce Rare Floor Lamp Model 1025By Gino SarfattiLocated in New York, NYGino Sarfatti for Arteluce rare floor lamp model 1025 with adjustable tubular polished brass stem wrapped in leather ending on tripod base with custom silk Empire shade with gold ribbon details, Italy, 1946-1948. This floor lamp is a very rare model, classic in its simplicity and form, and elegant in its subtle details. Beautifully restored original leather and rewired to U.S. standards. Sold with certificate of authenticity from Sandra Severi Sarfatti...Category
Vintage 1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsBrass
- Vittoriano Vigano for Arteluce Rare Floor Lamp Model 1047By Vittoriano Vigano, ArteluceLocated in New York, NYDesigned by Vittoriano Vigano and manufactured by Arteluce in Italy, circa 1951, rare and original floor lamp model 1047 with black lacquered aluminum adjustable shade on brass stem ...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Floor Lamps
MaterialsMetal, Aluminum
- Max Ingrand for Fontana Arte Rare Chandelier Model 2073By Max Ingrand, Fontana ArteLocated in New York, NYMax Ingrand for Fontana Arte rare chandelier model 2073 consisting of a satin or acid-etched glass globe diffuser inside four thick square plates ...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsMetal
- Max Ingrand for Fontana Arte Rare Chandelier Model 2088By Fontana Arte, Max IngrandLocated in New York, NYMax Ingrand for Fontana Arte rare and extraordinary chandelier model 2088 consisting of nine double lens cut panels of thick profiled polished glass with partially sand-blasted glass...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass
- Max Inrgand for Fontana Arte Rare Chandelier Model 2338By Max Ingrand, Fontana ArteLocated in New York, NYMax Ingrand for Fontana Arte rare chandelier or ceiling light model 2338 with five polished teardrop shaped double glass shades with partial sand-blasted centers suspended by brass s...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass
- Rare 1st Edition model 2097 Chandelier by Gino Sarfatti for ArteluceBy Arteluce, Gino SarfattiLocated in Los Angeles, CAModel 2097 Chandelier by Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce. Designed and manufactured in Italy, in 1958. Iconic chandelier comprising of a central suspension pole and a sequence of variable...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass
- Rare Vintage Chandelier by Gino Sarfatti for ArteLuce, 1930sBy Arteluce, Gino SarfattiLocated in Milano, ITBeautiful and rare chandelier by Gino Sarfatti for the fine manufacture ArteLuce designed in the '30s. The chandelier is made of white painted aluminum. The structure of the chandeli...Category
Vintage 1930s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsAluminum
- Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce Pendant Model '194/N'By Gino Sarfatti, ArteluceLocated in Waalwijk, NLGino Sarfatti for Arteluce, off-white pendant '194/N', metal, wire, Italy, 1950 A beautiful pendant in a natural colored metal made in Italy around 1950. This pendant designed by li...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsMetal
- Gino Sarfatti chandelier model 2058 Arteluce Italy 1954By Arteluce, Gino SarfattiLocated in Roosendaal, Noord BrabantA monumental model 2058 chandelier designed by Gino Sarfatti and manufactured by Arteluce, Italy 1954. This large sized chandelier has a disk-shaped reflector with a hole in the midd...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass, Aluminum
- Gino Sarfatti model 2133 chandeliers Arteluce Italy 1972By Arteluce, Gino SarfattiLocated in Roosendaal, Noord BrabantBeautiful Gino Sarfatti Model 2133 chandeliers, produced by Arteluce in Italy in 1972. These chandeliers are truly unique, featuring a minimalist design that resembles a floating dis...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsMetal, Aluminum
- Model 2079 Pendant by Gino Sarfatti for ArteluceBy Gino Sarfatti, ArteluceLocated in Los Angeles, CAModel 2079 pendant by Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce. Designed and manufactured in Italy, 1955. Opaline glass diffuser, reflector with reversed micro perforated aluminum cup...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsAluminum