Raak Wall Lamp –

Text in Dutch from the original catalogue 12 from 1982

Een opaalglazen witte halve bol die suggereert uit twee kwart bollen te zijn opgebouwd, want ‘het hoedje’ heeft een grotere doorsnede. Voor binnen en
buiten.
W -1875.0000
Opaalglas en kunststof wandplaat
Sprong 17 cm, hoogte 24.5 cm. breedte 30 cm. Lamp tot 60 W.

Translated text

An opal glass white hemisphere which suggested that it is made up of two half-shells, because ‘the hat’ has a larger cross-section. For indoor and
outside.
W -1875.0000

Opal Glass and plastic wall plate
Thick 17 cm, height 24.5 cm. width 30 cm. Lamp 60 W.

Raak Wall Lamp

Materials: Black Bakelite wall mount. Aluminium reflector. 3 screws, some metal parts. Round white opal frosted glass lampshade. Porcelain E27 socket.

Height: 30 cm / 64.96”

Width: ∅ 24 cm / 9.84”

Electricity: 1 bulb E27, 1 x 75 watt maximum, 110/220 volt.
Any type of light bulb can be used, but preferably a white/opaque or frosted light bulb.

Period: 1970s – Mid-Century Modern.

Designer: To be appraised.

Manufacturer: Raak Lichtarchitectuur, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Other versions: This Raak wall lamp exists in 3 versions. W-1875 – 60 Watt, W-1890 – 75 Watt, W-1894 – 100 Watt.

It has two model numbers. In the seventies it was P-1412 later it became W-1890.

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.

The lighting 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 light 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.

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). The Centre for Lighting Architecture was founded by Egbert Keen. CLA was declared bankrupt on 19-05-2011.

Artemide Mania

This Raak wall lamp has some similarities with the Artemide Mania & Grande Mania, designed by Vico Magistretti, wall lights made of Makrolon, a poly-carbonate or thermoplastic polymer. You can find it over here in the Artemide catalogue of 1973 or the Artemide catalogue 1976 on Vintageinfo.