Schnieder Leuchten Aluminium Pendant Lamp

Schnieder Leuchten aluminium pendant lamp round conical metal slats lampshade 1960s 1970s Neheim-Hüsten Germany Hans-Agne Jakobsson style

Schnieder Leuchten aluminium pendant lamp round conical metal slats lampshade 1960s 1970s Neheim-Hüsten Germany view from above

Schnieder Leuchten aluminium pendant lamp round conical metal slats lampshade 1960s 1970s Neheim-Hüsten Germany view from below

Schnieder Leuchten Aluminium Pendant Lamp – 1960s Catalogue Picture

The catalogue illustrates a small range of Schnieder Leuchten pendant lamps in several related designs, all typical of the early 1970s. Models 2933/1, 2934/1 and 2935/1 were all fitted with an E27 socket and had a total suspension height of 125 cm, with diameters of 28 cm, 33 cm and 42 cm. They were offered in a range of finishes or colours including matt aluminium, orange, yellow, brown and white. Also shown are models 2692/1, 2691/1 and 2667/1, likewise fitted with an E27 socket and listed with a total drop of 125 cm. Their diameters are given as 40 cm, 42 cm and 27 cm. The catalogue lists models 2692/1 and 2691/1 in aluminium, white and orange, while 2667/1 was available in aluminium, black and orange. The quoted height clearly refers to the full suspension length, including cord or stem, and not to the height of the shade itself.

Materials: Round conical metal slats/rings lampshade. Bakelite E27 socket.

Cord: 92 cm / 36.22’’

Height: 33 cm / 12.99”

Width: ∅ 42 cm / 16.53”

Electricity: 1 bulb E27, 1 x 75 watt maximum, 110/220 volt.
Any type of light bulb with an E27 screw base can be used, not a specific one preferred.

Period: 1960s, 1970s – Mid-Century Modern.

Designer: To be appraised.

Manufacturer: Schnieder Leuchten, Neheim-Hüsten, Germany

Other versions: This aluminium pendant lamp by Schnieder Leuchten was produced in several versions. It was also available in white and in a copper-coloured finish, as well as with an orange interior. Judging from surviving examples, the model seems to have remained in production for quite some time.

Chinese copies were also made in the 2000s. These are easy to recognize by their modern translucent wiring and plastic lamp holders.

This lamp is often attributed to Hans-Agne Jakobsson, but that attribution appears to be unfounded. Hans-Agne Jakobsson did design similar lamps, but this particular model does not appear in his catalogues. Comparable lamps were made by several different companies.

This pendant, model 2691/1, appears in a Schnieder Leuchten catalogue that most likely dates from the early 1970s. It is listed with an E27 fitting and a diameter of 42 cm. The catalogue gives a total suspension height of 125 cm, while the shade itself is approximately 33 cm high. The standard version shown here is in aluminium, with either a white or orange interior. Copper-coloured versions are also known, although they are not mentioned in this particular catalogue and may have been introduced later or shown in another catalogue. Judging from surviving examples, the model seems to have remained in production for a considerable time and was later also fitted with different cords and ceiling canopies.

Schnieder Leuchten

Schnieder Leuchten was a lighting company from Neheim-Hüsten, Germany. Very little detailed information about the company seems to have survived, but period address books show that Ferdinand Schnieder was active there as a manufacturer of lighting fittings, with the business listed at Möhnestraße 84 during the 1950s and again in 1960. There is also evidence of a German utility model from 1958 registered under the name Ferdinand Schnieder O.H.G. for a wall light, which confirms that the company was involved in the production of lighting.

That location matters. Neheim-Hüsten was one of the great centres of the German lighting industry and was long known as the “Stadt der Leuchten”, literally the city of lights. In its most successful years, Neheim is said to have had an extraordinary concentration of lighting manufacturers and suppliers, making it something of a German lighting capital. Schnieder Leuchten was one of the many firms that formed part of this local industrial network.

Even if the company is now largely absent from the standard design references, the surviving catalogues, labels and directory entries make clear that Schnieder belonged to the rich and now partly forgotten lighting tradition of Neheim-Hüsten.