Here at skinflint we are big fans of Art Deco and the stylish lighting which was produced in what was actually a relatively short era of design history.

Art Deco style really began in the post WW1 boom times of the roaring 20’s. With electric light becoming widely available designers of lighting, both domestic and street, explored the evolving styles of the day with a new-found freedom; from the technological advances that allowed the delicate white opaline glass to be moulded into characteristic angular Egyptian Revival ‘steps’ as with this beautiful Opaline with its copper gallery:

to the wonderful newly developed material ‘Bakelite’ which facilitated the mass production of (relatively) affordable designs, as with this lovely example of an art deco desk lamp:

Probably the most distinctive element of the style, aside from the aforementioned Egypt Revival, is the celebration of The Machine Age, the engineering and mechanisation that designers felt was The Way Forward after the darkness of the war years; and this is really what sets it aside from the slightly earlier Art Noveau and Arts and Crafts movements which were far more about the celebration of the natural world and handmade crafts. Art Deco design is always distinctive and modern with its sleek and simple ornamentation as with these 1950’s bulkheads, which are reminiscent of aircraft or car lights:

Always in style, forever elegant, Art Deco lighting is a real classic. Art Deco continues to inspire to this day, and its influence echoes through the lighting product design of each decade even up to the present day.

Below are some of our top Art Deco picks from the site and the archive: