1980s Memphis Style Floor Lamp

Materials: Round conical black base. Long black rod. Long thin black rod. Some metal and plastic parts. Red plastic details. Some brass and chrome parts. Black painted round conical aluminium lampshade, not painted inside. Porcelain G5 socket.

Total Height: 172 cm / 67.71” – adjustable

Lampshade: ∅ 12 cm / 4.72”

Base: ∅ 17 cm / 6.69”

Electricity: 1 bulb G5 halogen, 1 x 50 watt maximum, 12 volt. 220 volt to 12 volt transformer built-in the base. Any type of G5 lamp can be used. Not a specific one preferred.

Period: 1980s – Memphis Milan Style.

Designer:  To be appraised.

Manufacturer: Brilliant AG, Brilliantstraße 1, D-27442 Gnarrenburg, Germany.

Other versions: This 1980s Memphis style floor lamp also exists as a desk or table lamp. You can find it over here.

This lamp was produced by Brilliant Leuchten. In The Netherlands it was also sold by HEMA. This one is labelled HEMA. Other lamps have the Brilliant AG label. HEMA is not a lamp producer.

This lamp is designed in the style of a lamp design of Heico Linke for Brilliant Leuchten, this one is probably not by his hand.

Heico Linke

Heico Linke is a German industrial designer who created several lamps for Brilliant AG. Among others he designed the Circo table lamp. It has many similarities with this floor lamp and the table lamp. Heico Linke founded his design company Linke-Plewa-Design in 1979.

Mr Linke studied at the University of Fine Arts, Department of Industrial Design in Hamburg. Since 1995 he designs for ZACK. The company was founded in 1985. ZACK is one of the leading European specialist providers in the field of stainless steel home accessories. The company did not answer a request for more info, unfortunately.

Brilliant Leuchten

Brilliant AG was founded in 1951 as Brillantglashütte oHG / Lippold and Tschammer in Gnarrenburg, Germany as a glass making company. In 1953, the glass-works started to produce bar pendant bowls out of glass. These lamp fittings were the first step towards the exclusive production of lighting fixtures.

In 1970, the facility for industrial glass had to be sold in order to create more space. At the end of the 70s, the name Brillantglashütte KG had been changed into Brillantleuchten AG. In 1991, the company name was changed for the last time. The German word “leuchten” (lights) has been deleted and a second “i” has been added to the final version Brilliant AG.

In 2000, the American Sli Inc. became the new main shareholder. Since 2004, the British “The National Lighting Company” has been the new main shareholder of Brilliant AG.

HEMA

HEMA is a discount retail chain that started business as a dimestore. H.E.M.A. is an acronym for “Hollandsche Eenheidsprijzen Maatschappij Amsterdam” (Hollandic Standard Prices Company Amsterdam).

The company was founded in 1926 by Leo Meyer and Arthur Isaac. They already owned the luxury department store De Bijenkorf. Products were priced at 10, 25 or 50 cents (guilder).

In the 1950s, it was the first franchise organisation in the Netherlands and it still is the largest franchise operator in the country. In 1984, HEMA opened its first store abroad, in Belgium.

The company is characterized by relatively low pricing of generic housewares. Mostly made by and for HEMA, often with original design.

Today, 2019, HEMA is active in a big part of Europe: more than 750 stores in nine countries with 19.000 employees.  Since 2007 it is a property of an investment fund.

Memphis

This Brilliant AG/HEMA floor lamp is made in the famous Memphis style. The Italian Memphis Group was a design and architecture group founded by Ettore Sottsass (1917-2007) in 1981 in Milan. The Memphis Group produced Postmodern furniture, lights, fabrics, ceramics, glass and metal objects from 1981 to 1987.

The name was taken after the Bob Dylan song “Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again“. The song was played constantly during the first meeting of the designers on the 11th December 1980.

The group’s members included Andrea Branzi, Aldo Cibic, Alessandro Mendini,Arata Isozaki, Barbara Radice, Beppe Caturegli, Ettore Sottsass, George Sowden, Gerard Taylor, Giovanni Levanti, Hans Hollein, Javier Mariscal, Laura Agnoletto, Lawrence Laske. Luciano Paccagnella, Marco Susani, Marco Zanini. Marco Zanuso, Maria Sanshez, Martine Bedin. Marzio Rusconi, Massimo Iosa Ghini, Masanori Umeda. Matteo Thun, Michael Graves, Michele de Lucchi, Nathalie du Pasquier, Peter Shire, Shiro Kuramata and Thomas Bley. Ettore Sottsass left the movement in 1985. The Memphis Group disbanded in 1991.