Aro Leuchte Tripod Balloon Floor Lamp

Materials: 3 black painted tripod iron rods base. Brass rod and parts. Red folded cuff plastic globe lampshade with white Bakelite rims. Bakelite E27 socket.

Height: 102 cm / 40.15”

Lampshade: ∅ 30 x 25 cm / 11.81 x 9.84”

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 – Mid-Century Modern.

Designer: To be appraised.

Manufacturer: Aro-Leuchte(n) GmbH, Arnold Licht GmbH, Gelsenkirchener Strasse 5, 46325 Borken, Germany.

Other versions: This Aro Leuchte tripod balloon floor lamp exists in several varieties, all with the same tripod base. Another example can be found here.

Aro-Leuchten

Aro-Leuchten GmbH was founded in 1969 as a family business. It ended business in 2006. Not much to be found about the company. Today, the website is offline. The url was www.aro-leuchten.de. Mister Matthias Arnold was the last managing director.

The company was specialised in lamps made of acrylic in stead of glass. Many lamps were designed by other companies in the 1950s and 1960s. Aro-Leuchte produced the plastic versions. You can find several examples on the Vintageinfo website. The company used both Aro-Leuchte as Aro-Leuchten on their labels. The website was also with the N.

Another German company named Marbach Leuchten sold several lamps made by Aro Leuchte. They are labelled with their ME logo.

The lampshade of this floor lamp is made of iron wire and red celluloid wrapped around it. Exactly the same material as the stretchable folded celluloid flower pot decoration that is for sale since the 1930s and it is still available today. The “manchette” or “cuff” plastic is stretchable thanks to the folds, and therefore fits perfectly.

Lamps with these type of lampshades are often attributed to the famous French designer Georges Léon Rispal. Rispal is famous for his original creations and biomorphic forms. For some lampshades he used similar materials. But it was Lars Eiler Schiøler who was the first to use it for his Pearlshade lamps produced by the Danish Hoyrup.

Rhodoïd

The precursor of this cuff plastic was made of the very flammable celluloid or cellulose acetate (Rhodoïd). It was often used for lamps in the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Rhodoïd is a French and English trade name. Other names used for cellulose acetate: Tenite, Zyl, Zylonite, Cellon. Acrylic (1930s) and PVC (1920s) were discovered before World War II, but was only widely used since the late 1950s.