Marble And Chrome Eyeball Floor Lamp –Vintageinfo

Marble and chrome eyeball floor lamp round base 3 curvec rods & globe lampshades Reggiani 1970s 1980s

Marble and chrome eyeball floor lamp thick rod black plastic 3 curved rods Reggiani 1970s 1980s

Marble and chrome eyeball floor lamp round black & white base thick rod Reggiani 1970s 1980s

Lamps in the movies!

A Reggiani marble and chrome eyeball floor lamp was used as a prop in Rocketman, the 2019 biographical musical film based on the life of musician Elton John.

2 marble and chrome eyeball floor lamps, but with more and different lampshades, also made by Massive, were used as a prop in the 2006 – 2007 British science fiction and police series Life On Mars. Starring John Simm, Philip Glenister and Liz White. As you can see, the black plastic connector is skewed by the rods. The series is situated in 1973, long before these lamps were made. Today (2020) Chinese copies are for sale in several online shops white names such as “Five finger floor lamp”.

Marble And Chrome Eyeball Floor Lamp

Materials: Round Carrara marble base. Chromed metal (iron) curved rods, rotatable in any direction. Chrome pole. Black plastic rods connector. Some plastic parts. 3 chrome eyeball or globe lampshades, painted white inside. Chrome joint & lid. 3 Bakelite E27 sockets.

Height: 160 cm / 62.99”

Width: 110 cm / 43.30”

Base: ∅ 36 cm / 14.17’’

Electricity: 3 bulbs E27, 3 x 60 watt maximum, 110/220 volt.
Any type of light bulb can be used, not a specific one preferred.

Period: 1970s, 1980s – Mid-Century Modern.

Designer: To be appraised.

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

Other versions: This marble and chrome eyeball floor lamp was also made with a chromed base or a black marble base. Made with many different lampshades. Also produced in a completely white painted version. These floor lamps were made with 3 or 5 lamps. During the 1980s a version with halogen spots was made.

Similar floor lamps were produced by the Italian company Reggiani. Rumour has it that Reggiani produced these lamps for Massive, but that’s bullshit. There are many differences. The most striking dissimilarity is that the eyeball lampshades are different and have another connection to the rod, as you can see below. The black plastic center point were the swivable rods appear is made of metal at the Reggiani floor lamp: a much better quality. The plastic often gets loose, as you can see below in the TV series Life on Mars from 2007.

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.

Reggiani

Goffredo Reggiani (1929 – 2004) founded the company in the Italian town of Monza in 1957 and designed most of the lamps himself. In the beginning Goffredo most often used plywood and sanitized opaque glass in his designs as you can see in this example, giving his lights a Scandinavian look. Later in the 1960s and 1970s his interest shifted towards brass and chromed metal. The Reggiani company still exists.

Lamps in the movies

A Reggiani marble and chrome eyeball floor lamp was used as a prop in the 2018 film Bohemian Rhapsody. A biographical film about the British rock band Queen.