Links (external links open in a new window)
Massive – Wikipedia (in Dutch)
The complete history of the Philips company
Frits & Freddy (2010) – Wikipedia
Huizenjagers (house hunters) on the website of Vier
Vintageinfo
Circular Fluorescent Tube Pendant Lamp
Materials: Conical brown curved plastic lampshade. White acrylic plastic translucent ring diffuser. Brown painted metal. Chromed metal (iron) parts. Chrome ornamental nut below, used as a handle. Some metal parts.
Cord: This one has an adjustable rise & fall mechanism from Rolly (40 – 140 cm / 15.74 – 55.11″). It can be easily adjusted in height by pulling the chromed knob underneath.
Height: 38 cm / 14.96”
Width: ∅ 44 cm / 17.32”
Electricity: 1 circular fluorescent tube 40 watt, 220 volt.
Period: 1960s, 1970s – Mid-Century Modern.
Designer: To be appraised.
Manufacturer: Massive, Mortsel, Kontich and Wommelgem, Belgium.
Other versions: Made in several forms and colours.
These lamps were a big success for Massive. They were produced for many years.
This typical kitchen pendant lamp has a rise & fall mechanism from Rolly. It has no date on it, so this lamp is produced in the late seventies. Early Rolly mechanisms (1960s-1976) have a date pressed in the plastic. Rolly was an Italian company that produced rise & fall mechanisms for many companies. Rolly no longer exists.
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.
Acrylic
Often named by its commercial name: Perspex, Plexiglas, Crylux, Acrylite, Lucite, is a thermoplastic.
Lamps in the movies!
A circular fluorescent tube pendant lamp made by Massive appears in the Belgian comedy film Frits & Freddy (2010).
A circular fluorescent tube pendant lamp appears in the Belgian TV-series “Huizenjagers” (House hunters). This series is broadcast on Vier (4) since 2017. Every season several lamps appear in this series. You can find them here.
