1950s Lampion Wall Lamp

Materials: Oval gold painted iron wall mount. Black painted iron lid. Curved brass rods. Brass plated copper parts. Diamond shaped, opal frosted glass lantern style lampshades. Some metal parts. Brass ornamental screws. Bakelite E14 sockets.

Height: 30 cm / 25.98”

Width: 20 cm / 3.93”

Lampshades: 22 x 7,5 cm / 14.17”

Wall Mount: 15,2 x 8 cm / 4.52”

Electricity: 2 bulbs E14, 2 x 40 watt maximum, 110/220 volt.
Any type of light bulb can be used. Not a specific one preferred. 

Period: 1950s, 1960s – Mid-Century Modern.

Designer: To be appraised.

Manufacturer: Massive, Kontich and Wommelgem, Belgium – attributed.

Other versions: This 1950s lampion wall lamp, lantern style was probably also made as a single wall lamp. The diamond shaped opal glass lampshades were also used for chandeliers.

Lamps with similar diamond shaped glass lampshades were also made by Raak from Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Raak Lantern Pendant Lamp. Many other companies produced similar lamps.

Massive

Massive was in origin a bronze foundry and they produced mainly candlesticks, crucifixes and chandeliers in Wilrijk near Antwerp, Belgium. The company was founded in 1926 by Pieter-Jozef De Jaeck. His son Eddy De Jaeck was responsible for the huge expansion of the company in the 1970s. But it were his sons, Piet and Jan De Jaeck who made Massive a true multinational. Thus, they moved production to Eastern Europe and China.

In the 1980s Massive became the leading brand in Europe. In 2002, the brothers left the company to the investment fund CVC Capital Partners, for allegedly more than 250 million euros. 
Since 2008 the company is owned by Philips and the name of the shops is changed into Light Gallery.

When the takeover by Philips was announced in November 2006 Massive commercialised more than 10.000 lighting products under brand names such as Massive, TRIO and Lirio. The group had about 5.000 employees worldwide and was active in 70 countries.

VLM Components

All the electric parts were made by VLM Components in the 1950s, 1960s. VLM Components was founded in 1945 in Buccinasco, a small village near Milan, Italy. VLM Components is part of the Relco Group, founded in 1967. Today they are the owners of the brands Relco, Leuci, Relco Lighting, VLM Components and Segno. VLM Components became famous for the switches they produce which were designed by Achille Castiglioni in 1968.