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Antwerpen-Centraal railway station – Wikipedia
In 2009 the American Newsweek-magazine judged the station to be the world’s fourth greatest train station. In 2014 the British-American magazine Mashable awarded it the first place for the most beautiful railway station in the world.
Carnotstraat – Wikipedia (in Dutch)
Vintageinfo
Gepo White Mushroom Table Lamp
Materials: Chromed metal (iron) round base. Chromed brass parts and rod. Chrome round ornamental screw. Transparent rectangular acrylic cord holder. White acrylic mushroom lampshade. Brass E27 sockets with a porcelain ring.
Height: 55 cm / 21.65” – adjustable
Width: ∅ 40 cm / 15.74”
Base: ∅ 18 cm / 7.08”
Electricity: 2 bulbs E27, 2 x 60 watt maximum, 110/220 volt.
Any type of light bulb can be used, not a specific one preferred. But opaque or frosted light bulbs gives the best result.
Period: 1960s, 1970s – Mid-Century Modern.
Designer: To be appraised.
Manufacturer: Gepo N.V. (Naamloze Vennootschap – Limited Company), Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Other versions: This Gepo white mushroom table lamp was also made with an orange mushroom lampshade and a different adjustment screw. Both table lamps are adjustable in height.
Gepo
Gepo N.V. was a family business founded in 1965 by the brothers Posthuma: Peter(sales director) , Jules (purchase and marketing), Archi and Rob (production). The name Gepo is derived from the Gebroeders (brothers) Posthuma.
The brothers started their business with +- 35 euro/dollar borrowed from their mother. In 1972 the company had a turnover of +- 1 million euro/dollar. It was always the intention of the company to produce affordable lamps for the middle class. The Posthuma brothers not only wanted to democratise the light business, but they also wanted to provide every lamp with a dimmer. At that time dimmers were made with a resistor; they were expensive and often broke down. The plan has never been successful. Gepo ended business somewhere in the early 1980’s.
The electric parts are made by the Italian VLM Components company. All electric parts were produced in the mid 1960s, so presumably also this table lamp.
This lamp was acquired when Veduco, once a famous design shop in Antwerp, Belgium, ended business in 1996. The shop was located in the Carnotstraat near the central station. In the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s a boulevard famous for all the furniture and design shops.
This white mushroom table lamp, together with an orange one, were the last 2 lamps to be found somewhere in the basement before closing the shop.
Acrylic: often named by its commercial name: Perspex, Plexiglas, Crylux, Acrylite, Lucite, is a thermoplastic.
