1970s Bauhaus Style Desk Lamp

Materials: Brown painted round & rounded base with a black plastic rectangular built-in switch. Chrome rod & gooseneck. Brown painted mushroom lampshade, painted white inside. Bakelite E27 socket.

Height: 43 cm / 16.92” – adjustable

Lampshade: ∅ 27 cm / 10.62”

Base: ∅ 17 cm / 6.69”

Electricity: 1 bulb E27, 1 x 60 watt maximum, 110/220 volt.
Any type of light bulb can be used, not a specific one preferred. 

Period: 1970s – Bauhaus, art deco style.

Designer: To be appraised.

Manufacturer: Massive, Kontich and Wommelgem, Belgium.

Other versions: Early 1970s models have a round light switch. You can find one over here. This 1970s Bauhaus style desk lamp exists in several colours. Massive produced this lamp for many years, until the late 1980s. Often confused with the lamps Christian Dell designed, the Kaiser Idell desk lamps or lamps such as the Luxus lamp by Helo Leuchten. Today in production by Fritz Hansen.

Label inside the lampshade: Mass. Max. 60W. Made in Belgium (Massimo Maximum 60 Watt). Massimo is the Italian word for maximum. Max. is used for every other language in Europe were Massive sold lighting at that time.

At Massive they were economical with the labels, they started using labels when the government had compelled them to do so. The first labels that became mandatory in Europe (EEC) were stickers that stated the maximum power of the light bulbs to be used.

Massive used the same round labels with the same font that says: Mass. Max. 60W., Made In Belgium and also a label exists with Massive Mass. Max. 60W. More info about the Massive Labels can be found over here on Vintageinfo.

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.

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.