Acrylic & Chrome Mushroom Table Lamp

Materials: Round chromed metal (iron) rounded flat base. Thick round chrome rod. White opal acrylic half round mushroom lampshade. Ornamental chrome nut on top. Some metal parts. Bakelite E27 socket.

Height: 40 cm / 15.74”

Width: ∅ 30 cm / 11.81”

Base: ∅ 19 cm / 7.48”

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. However, clear bulbs creates stripes on white lampshades.

Period: 1970s – 1990s – Mid-Century Modern.

Designer: To be appraised.

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

Other versions: This acrylic & chrome mushroom table lamp was also made in a white and brown painted base. Aso made as a big floor lamp and a wall lamp. These lamps were produced until the 1990s. This table lamp is from the 1990s, as seen at the switch.

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.

Massive sold many lamps made by others. Peill + Putzler from Germany and Yamada Shomei from Japan produced lamps for Massive, to name a few. Many other lighting companies did.

VLM Components

All the electric parts of this lamp are made by the Italian VLM Components company in the early 1990s. VLM Components is located in Buccinasco, near Milan. VLM Components is famous for the switches they produced that are designed by Achille Castigilioni in 1968.

Acrylic: often named by its commercial name: Perspex, Plexiglas, Crylux, Acrylite, Lucite, is a thermoplastic.