Pair of Mid-Century Modern Murano glass Sputnik wall sconces, Italian, circa 1960. Large size and very rare. Guaranteed authentic Period sconces H-29" W-29" D-10" The iconic Sputnik design was inspired by the first satellite to orbit the earth in 1957. This Soviet Union satellite was named “Sputnik” and was the size of a beach ball, with four long antennae emulating from a center sphere. It is believed that the Sputnik was part of the push to create the United States NASA space program in 1958. This Mid-Century Modern Iconic form became a recognizable part of the design periods known as the “Atomic Age” from about 1940 -1960, when concerns of nuclear war dominated the West, and the “Space Age” period from 1958 to the early 1970s, culminating in the July 1969 moon landing.