Industrial Gooseneck Desk Lamp

Materials: Red painted brass base. Cast iron ground plate with a recess used as a counterweight. Brass goose-neck. Black painted brass lampshade. Brass E27 socket with a porcelain ring.

Height: 35 cm / 13.77” – adjustable

Base: ∅ 12 cm – 4.72”

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: 1930s – 1950s – Bauhaus, Art Deco.

Designer: To be appraised.

Manufacturer: Helo Leuchten, Am Schwalbanger 48, 86633 Neuburg an der Donau, Germany – attributed.

Other versions: This industrial gooseneck desk lamp was probably made in several colours. The base was used for several other lamps.

On the switch is printed: erk 2011 DWPa. No other marks were found on the electric parts.

It has a recess in the bottom for a hook; it can be used as a wall lamp.

Helo Leuchten

Helo was founded in the 1930s by Henry Gerhard Senior as Elektrogeschäfts Helo in the city of Breslau, at that time a German city. Today a Polish city named Wroclaw.

He fled to Neuburg with his family in 1945 with only a flashlight and some pictures. The three shops were destroyed in a night of bombing. The Helo Leuchten company was registered after World War 2 in 1946 in Neuburg (Neuburg an der Donau). Helo is derived from Henry and his son Lothar. 

From old war material such as brass and aluminium from the airfield, he begins with the production of work lamps, today we say industrial lighting.

The company grows fast and moves twice in a couple of years to the address of today.

The company Gebr. Kaiser & Co. Leuchten KG, Lichttechnische Spezialfabrik from Neheim-Hüsten acquires the rights to use the Helo brand and individual models, such as the “commissaire” lamp, the 6631 Luxus. Today (2018) produced by Lightyears/Fritz Hansen.

Lothar Gerhard, who took over the company after Henry Gerhard’s death in 1964, sees himself forced to gradually abandon the factory and transform the company into the trading company it is today. Helo is now owned by Henry Gerhard Junior, his son and since 1980 a member of the Expert group.

Similar lamps were produced by the American O.C. White Company, Thorndike, Massachusetts.