Atomic Mushroom Table Lamp

Materials: Round chromed metal (iron) base. Metal spring, brass rod. Hand blown white opal glass lampshade, made in an atomic explosion, mushroom style. Bakelite E14 socket.

Height: 24 cm / 9.44”

Lampshade: ∅ 18 cm / 7.08”

Base: ∅ 9,8 cm / 3.85”

Electricity: 1 bulb E14, 1 x 40 watt maximum, 110/220 volt.
Any type of light bulb can be used, but for white glass frosted or white bulbs are preferred.

Period: 1960s, 1980s – Mid-Century Modern.

Designer: To be appraised.

Manufacturer: Massive, Mortsel, Kontich and Wommelgem, Belgium.

Other versions: This atomic mushroom table lamp exists in several sizes and colours. The biggest version is about 50 cm high (20”). This small version was made with an E27 and an E14 lamp socket. The glass was also used for a pendant lamp.

It is unclear which company produced the glass. Sometimes said it was Peill + Putzler, but it in all probability it was blown by the Belgian company De Rupel. De Rupel produced many glass parts for Massive. As did several other Belgium glass companies.

Sometimes these lamps are labelled with the Mass. Max. 40 watt label, as you can see with the speckled/mottled version of this lamp. Often they are not. The company was particularly sloppy with labels and limited it to the mandatory minimum (and even then). That’s why you see so many lamps produced by Massive wrongly attributed. This atomic mushroom table lamp is often attributed to AV Mazzega from Murano, Italy, Peill + Putzler from Germany and several other glass companies, but it is not.

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 commercialized 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.

Massive sold many lamps made by others. Peill + Putzler from Germany and Yamada Shomei from Japan produced lamps for Massive, to name a few. Many other lighting companies did.