Italian modern orange table lamp Snoopy by Castiglioni brothers for Flos, 2020

With an oblong black head that sits atop a tilting white marble base, the Snoopy lamp’s shape playfully brings to mind the snout of the canine main character in Charles M. Schulz’s Peanuts comic strip. The design, one of many innovative collaborations by the Italian brothers Achille (1918–2002) and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni (1913–68), was introduced in 1967.

After graduating from the Polytechnic University of Milan in 1944, Achille joined the urban planning, architecture and industrial design studio of his older brothers, Livio and Pier Giacomo. Although Livio left in 1952, the partnership between Achille and Pier Giacomo flourished until Pier Giacomo’s untimely death in 1968.

“I see around me a professional disease of taking everything too seriously,” Achille once stated. “One of my secrets is to joke all the time.” The brothers channeled that wit into objects that could bring some joy to everyday life. For instance, their 1962 Arco floor lamp, a mid-century modern classic, has a long stainless-steel stem angling off a Carrara marble base like a streetlight, offering the elevation of an overhead light without needing to drill into the ceiling. Their 1965 RR 126 stereo cabinet also instilled some spirit in its functionality, bearing an animal-like face with radio-control dials for eyes and speakers for ears. Each of these pieces displayed a timeless ingenuity for experimentation in design.

Designed for Italian lighting manufacturer FLOS as a table lamp, the Snoopy lamp, in its simplicity, manages to be both lighthearted and sophisticated as it updates the humble banker’s lamp. The large enamel reflector — which suggests the long nose of a beagle and features three cooling holes that recall the grip on a bowling ball — is balanced on a sculptural base made from fine Carrara marble topped with a thick glass disk.

About 40 years after its debut, a new version of the Snoopy lamp was introduced by FLOS in 2003, a year after Achille Castiglioni’s death at the age of 84 following a prolific design career. This revamp guarded the enduring design of the original — now preserved by the Achille Castiglioni Foundation — while adding updated lighting technology, such as replacing the original knob with a touch-sensor dimmer. In addition to the classic black, it was made available in other colors over the years. The cherished original design is in the Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection.

In partnership with his brothers Livio (1911–79) and Achille (1918–2002), Milanese industrial designer and architect Pier Giacomo Castiglioni played a role in creating some of the most iconic furniture designs in the world, particularly those that originated in the realm of mid-century modern lighting. 

In the late 1930s, after graduating from the acclaimed Polytechnic University of Milan, Pier Giacomo opened a design studio with his brother Livio and likeminded architect Luigi Caccia Dominioni. Achille, also a graduate of Milan Polytechnic, joined the group after completing his studies in 1944. The era’s architects were encountering difficulty in their attempts to secure building commissions, so the group focused on designing practical everyday objects such as the Model 547, a tabletop radio for Phonola that was encased in Bakelite. 

The Castiglioni brothers produced wildly popular and innovative designs throughout the 20th century. Vintage furniture collectors may be familiar with Livio and Italian designer Gianfranco Frattini’s serpent-like Boalum lamp, while Achille’s Taraxacum hanging lamp — created for FLOS with sprayed plastic polymers originally intended for military use — as well as the Arco, Snoopy and Toio lamps, which were the result of the collaboration between Pier Giacomo and Achille, are milestones in modernist lighting design. 

Also for FLOS, Pier Giacomo and Achille created a series of metal frames that, wrapped in the polymer, became floor lamps (Gatto) or pendant lights (Viscontea and Taraxacum), all released in 1960. The Gatto floor lamp takes its name from the Italian word for “cat” and the inspiration for its aesthetic from lighting that George Nelson developed for legendary American furniture manufacturer Howard Miller during the 1940s. Around the same time, the designer Tobia Scarpa (son of the famed Italian architect Carlo Scarpa and one-half of the widely revered postmodern husband-and-wife design duo Afra and Tobia Scarpa) created a floor lamp called Fantasma (1961) using the polymers technique. FLOS continues to make the Castiglionis’ innovative pieces today.

In addition to their provocative lighting works, Pier Giacomo and Achille also created stereo systems, decorative objects, seating, tables and other items for the likes of Brionvega, Alessi, Zanotta, Kartell and more.

Find vintage Pier Giacomo Castiglioni floor lamps, table lamps, case pieces and other furniture on 1stDibs.