James Mont’s life as an unmistakably talented furniture designer and interior decorator could fill the pages of a best-selling novel or be reimagined as a Hollywood feature film. From the 1930s through the 1960s, Tinseltown’s glitterati and Manhattan’s Mafia underworld coveted his sofas, coffee tables and table lamps.
Mont was born Demetrios Pecintoglu in Istanbul, Turkey, in 1904 to a family of artists. He reportedly studied architecture and art in Spain and France, and during the 1920s, Mont immigrated with his family to the United States.
Mont and his family settled in New York, where he found work in a Brooklyn electrical supply shop. There he sold hardware and designed his own lighting fixtures. The latter caught the eye of a gangster named Frankie Yale, who commissioned him to refurnish his house. Mont’s opulent designs drew on Art Deco, Hollywood Regency and were occasionally marked by chinoiserie, then a very popular trend in decorating. He created the kind of low-profile side tables and sofas that are frequently associated with mid-century modernism, and he is credited today with helping popularize the integration of Asian influences in modern American design.
Mont soon attracted New York City’s most infamous crime bosses, including Charles “Lucky” Luciano and Frank Costello. For a range of mobsters, he created fashionable, functional and sophisticated pieces such as collapsible home bars that would fold down and out of view — a particularly convenient feature during Prohibition — and tables and desks with secret drawers, which were also handy to Mont’s shady clientele.
“You bought a bar from him, and he would also deliver booze in a baby carriage,” antiques dealer and furniture retailer Todd Merrill told New York about Mont in 2008.
Mont designed a room for the World’s Fair in 1939 and later befriended Hollywood celebrities such as Bob Hope, who was best man at his wedding, Irving Berlin and Lana Turner. During the 1940s and ‘50s, Mont continued designing furniture, mastering finishing techniques such as lacquering and incorporating a distinctive “leafing” print effect with silver and gold into his pieces.
Mont’s designs enjoyed a resurgence in the 1990s, and his pieces continue to be sought after by collectors.
On 1stDibs, discover a range of vintage James Mont sideboards, tables and storage cabinets.
Nefertiti Ceramic Table Lamp
Located in Antwerp, BE
Huge ceramic table lamp. Height: 102 cm. Diameter shade 50 cm. Height shade 44 cm. Depth base 36 cm. Width of the front of the base 21 cm....
Metal
Design Technics Incised Ceramic Table Lamp Lee Rosen Mid Century
By Design Technics
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This Design Technics lamp has the Classic Design Technics artful glaze and uniquely incised design on this entire lamp. The lamp is in perfect shape; it is a rare large size.
Ceramic
$2,299
H 25.6 in W 8.67 in D 7.49 in
Lovely rare Tara Buddha statue table lamp, Mid-Century Modern 1960s
Located in Nürnberg, Bayern
The sculpture itself is 37 cm high and 16 cm wide. Very elegant and beautiful. Fully functional. The photo with the lampshade is for illustration purposes only, the lamp base co...
Metal, Brass
Monumental Clyde Burt Ceramic Lamp
Located in St.Petersburg, FL
A monumental and heavy Clyde Burt ceramic lamp, signed on the inside, circa 1960s.
Ceramic
Mid-Century James Mont Style Bronze Chinese-inspired Table Lamp
By James Mont
Located in Van Nuys, CA
Mid-century sculptural fusion bronze table lamp features a classic Western candle stick design with a Chinese motif featuring cranes, foo dogs, and a floral design along the center. The lamp is comprised of casted bronze parts that have been fixed together with a faux candle along the lamp socket's top. The lamp takes standard lamp shades...
Bronze
Monumental vintage pottery Asianist style table lamp after James Mont
By James Mont
Located in Allentown, PA
This is a mid century Vintage Asian inspired pottery table lamp. This lamp features is original Silverleaf paper lampshade. This lamp has ornate Asian inspired decoration around the ...
Pottery
$1,950Sale Price|22% Off
H 34.75 in W 7.25 in D 6.75 in
Vintage Oriental Quan Yin Table Lamp with Silver Finish James Mont
By James Mont
Located in Chicago, IL
Exquisitely carved Quan Yin table lamp dating to the 1930s-1940s. Very fine in detail. Beautiful aged silver finish. Very possibly by James Mont. Unsigned. Style of Asian, chinoiseri...
Wood
Mid Century Egyptian Motif Glass Table Lamp
Located in Toledo, OH
Mid Century Egyptian Motif glass table lamp with Egyptian scenes encircling the lamp. Has metallic background and wood grain base and Leviton sockets with pull chains. Original pap...
Glass
Mid-Century Modern Ceramic Tiki Lamp
Located in Redding, CT
Mid-Century Modern Ceramic tiki lamp. Amazing one of a kind lamp with detailed geometric and paisley designs in black and cream. It has a natural wooden base...
Ceramic, Silk, Wood
Lauritz Adolph Hjorth Glazed Ceramic Table Lamp
By Lauritz Adolph Hjorth
Located in Saint-Ouen, IDF
Unusual table lamp made by the Danish ceramist Lauritz Adolph Hjorth, this black glazed ceramic table lamp features several nocturnal animals. Signed at the bottom. Lauritz Adolph Hjorth (1831-1912) is a Danish ceramist who’s works are highly sought. Early in his career Lauritz Adolph Hjorth created utilitarian items, including water-coolers, flowerpots, and milk-jugs. In 1862 he began concentrating on decorative vases and figurines that referred in style and ornamentation to antique and old...
Ceramic
Mid-20th Century Chinese Ge Type Porcelain Vase Table Lamp
Located in Astoria, NY
Chinese Ge Ware Type Porcelain Vase Mounted as a Table Lamp, the crackle glazed vessel mounted on a chased brass base and surmounted by two bulb fittings. 26.75" H x 6.75" Diameter....
Metal
Mid-Century Modern Table Lamp, Alabaster and Wood, Hourglass Form
Located in Astoria, NY
Mid-Century Modern White Alabaster and Wood Table Lamp, tapering hourglass form. 31.5" H x 4" Diameter. Provenance: From a Manhattan Estate.
Alabaster
Maison Jansen Style Vintage Modern Cast Palm Leaf Motif Lamp
By Maison Jansen
Located in Astoria, NY
Maison Jansen Style Cast Iron and Sheet Metal Palm Leaf Motif Table Lamp, the urn with scroll form handles and milk glass shade. 31" H x 20" W x 17" D. Provenance: From a 21 East 8...
Sheet Metal, Cast Iron
Christopher Spitzmiller Double Gourd Table Lamp, Porcelain & Silk
By Christopher Spitzmiller
Located in Astoria, NY
Christopher Spitzmiller Style Double Gourd Table Lamp, white crackle glazed porcelain above gilt base, Festoni label to underside, with single bulb fi...
Porcelain, Silk
Neoclassical Table Lamp with Corinthian Column Design, 20th Century
Located in Astoria, NY
Neoclassical Corinthian Column Form Table Lamp, A handsome Neoclassical-style table lamp in the form of a Corinthian column, combining a mix of finishes and materials for rich visual...
Metal, Chrome
Chinese Celadon Glazed Ceramic Table Lamp, Ebonized Base, 20th Century
Located in Astoria, NY
Chinese Celadon Glazed Ceramic Vase Mounted as a Table Lamp, the vessel of Phoenix Tail vase form with molded scrolling foliate motif, and mounted atop an ebonized circular base, wit...
Metal
