Raak Chrysaline Pendant Lamp

Materials: Big globe lampshade made of metal (iron) wire frame and plastic “Cocoon” sprayed around it. Bakelite E27 socket.

Cord Length: 65 cm  / 25.59”

Height: 45 cm / 17.71”

Width: ∅ 45 cm / 17.71”

Electricity: 1 bulb E27, 1 x 150 watt maximum, 110/220 volt.
Any type of light bulb can be used, preferably a white/opaque bulb.

Period: 1950s, 1960s – Mid-Century Modern.

Designer: Svend Aage Holm Sørensen.

Manufacturer: Raak, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Other versions: This Raak Chrysaline pendant lamp exists in a smaller version of 35 cm / 13.77”. It is model B-1058. Also a floor lamp was made: model D-2004. It appears in catalogue 3 from 1960. Catalogue picture on this page.

It is strange that the B-1057 label was also used for another Raak pendant lamp, as you can see over here.

Many people think these lamps are made of pig’s bladder. It is not, of course. It is a type of plastic.

According to the book “Lampen Und Leuchten, Ein Internationaler FormenQuerschnitt” (Lamps and lights, an international cross-section of shapes), by Gerhard Krohn from 1962, page 105, it is a design of Svend Aage Holm Sørensen and these lamps were sold by Kemp & Lauritzen.

Svend Aage Holm Sørensen

Svend Aage Holm Sørensen was a Danish designer who created lights for Fog & Mørup in the 1950s. He founded his company Holm Sørensen & Co in the mid 1950s.

Goldkant Leuchten

In all probability Goldkant-Leuchten, Friedel Wauer GmbH & Co KG from Germany produced this lamp for Raak. Friedel Wauer who is credited by Flos for devising the technology of spraying the material onto iron frames, was inspired by the “self-wrapping” of a silkworm, hence the naming “cocoon”.

George Nelson was the first one who used this kind of material in 1947 for his Bubble Hanging Lights. The technique had been developed for mothballing naval ships. George Nelson referred to these lights as “one of those happy accidents which occur all too infrequently in the designer’s experience”.

Raak

The Dutch company Raak was founded in 1954 by Carel O. Lockhorn (18 June 1923 – 6 October 2004), a previous employee of Philips Lighting Eindhoven. Raak, which means “to hit” in Dutch, implies design which precisely “hits the nail on the head”.

Raak is best known for their organic modern design of the 1960s and 1970s which combined glass & metals for a sophisticated futuristic style.

Collaborations

The light company collaborated with several international designers and architects, including Bertrand Balas, Evert Jelle Jelles, Frank Ligtelijn, Ger Vos, Jan Jasper Fayer, Li Helo, Maija-Liisa Komulainen, Nan Platvoet, Nanny Still-Mackinney, Nico Kooi, Sergio Asti, Tapio Wirkala, Willem van Oyen and many others.

Raak also collaborated with other companies. They worked with the German Peill + Putzler for the Raak Globe lamps. Peill + Putzler produced the glass. They also sold lamps made by Peill + Putzler, such as a pendant lamp designed by Aloys Ferdinand Gangkofner. For the Raak Discus the glass was made by Bega, also a German company. For the Stalactites flush mounts a cooperation with the Belgian Val Saint Lambert was undertaken in the late 1950s. Raak also sold some lamps that were produced by Staff Leuchten (Staff & Schwarz Leuchtenwerke GMBH) from Germany,  and several other companies.

Carel Lockhorn sold the company in 1974 to ITT but remained a director until 1977. In 1980 Raak merged with BIS Lighting from Aalsmeer, also in The Netherlands and was renamed into BisRaak. In 1986 the Raak company became independent again. The company got a business appearance and only the colours white, black and grey were still processed.

In 1999, Raak merged with Artilite B.V. and Indoor B.V. and became CLA: Centrum voor Lichtarchitectuur B.V. in Drachten (Centre for Light Architecture). Lichtarchitectuur (light architecture) was the Raak tagline from the beginning in the 1950s. The Centre for Lighting Architecture was founded by Egbert Keen. The company was declared bankrupt on 19-05-2011.