1980s Baum Pendant Lamp

Materials: Lampshade made of 5 curved wooden slats. 5 brown smoked curved glass plates with a tree print. Conical wood top. Some metal parts. Metal chain & canopy. Bakelite E27 socket.

Chain Length: 60 cm / 23.62”

Height: 38 cm / 14.96”

Width: ∅ 47 cm / 18.50”

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

Period: 1980s.

Designer: Made after a design by Luigi Colani (1928 – 2019).

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

Other versions: This 1980s Baum pendant lamp was made in several sizes, wall lamps and table lamps.

This pendant lamp is made after the “Baum” lamp design of Luigi Colani in 1980 for the German light company Simon & Schelle, also named Sische. The lamps of Sische are all made in brass and the drawing of the trees is different of course. The German lamps are all signed with “Colani” on the glass, as you can see below.

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.

Simon & Schelle – Sische

The light company Simon & Schelle GmbH & Co. KG was founded right after World War II in the German city of Sundern in 1946. Founders were Josef Simon and Josef Schelle. 3 years later they presented their first light collection. Over the years the company produced many lamps. One of the most well known lamps are made of glass flowers and brass, as you can see below.

In 1980 Luigi Colani designed disk lamps with the tree-decoration, named Baum, Bonsai, etc. How strange it may sound today, these lamps were a huge success. The design was used for many objects such as glasses, decanters and vases produced by the German Ritzenhoff AG. Several companies produced lamps and objects with a comparable design.

Until 1989 the original founders led the company after which the second generation stepped up.

Simon & Schelle ended business in 2015. At that time they were also active as an electroplating company and they sold a collection made by Joop!, a German fashion company founded in 1987. For a while they also sold furniture and home decor.

The website of Sische still exists today, but is under construction. There may be a restart of the company or someone has bought the domain name.