Banana Split Desk Lamp

Materials: Chocolate brown round base with a built-in switch. Metal (iron) counterweight inside. Black plastic flexible tube around the iron goose-neck. Chrome parts. Chocolate brown tube. Banana yellow aluminium lampshade. Bakelite E14 socket.

Height: 30 cm / 11.81” – adjustable goose-neck.

Lampshade: ∅ 9 cm / 3.54”

Base: ∅ 10,5 cm / 4.13”

Electricity: 1 bulb E14, 1 x 40 watt maximum, 110/220 volt.
Any type of light bulb can be used, not a specific one preferred.

Period: 1970s – Mid-Century Modern.

Designer: To be appraised.

Manufacturer: Produced in East Germany by Massive from Mortsel, Wommelgem and Kontich, Belgium.

Other versions: This Banana Split desk lamp exists in several colours.

This lamp is in a much better quality made than we’re used to from the Massive company. Generally Massive tried to be as cheap as possible. The lamps they produced in East Germany were usually of good quality. Workforce and materials were inexpensive at that time in East Germany. Many companies allowed their goods to be made in the Eastern Bloc. Mass production in cheaper China started years later in the 1980’s.

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 1970’s. 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 1980’s 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.

This lamp has a plug made by the German company KRANIA. Often you find a lamp for sale from Krania, but they only made the electric parts.  Many lamps from the Massive lighting company has KRANIA parts. Other lights from Massive Lighting have parts made by VLM Components from Italy.

KRANIA Kabel-Stecker GmbH

KRANIA Kabel-Stecker GmbH was founded in the 1970’s in the town Kranichfeld. Kranichfeld is a town in the Weimarer Land district, in Thuringia, Germany.