John & Sylvia Reid Lighting

Hanging lamp "sugarball" Vintage light yellow, 1960s Sugar Ball Sphere Hanging lamp just the name is already beautiful and beautiful light yellow. B...

This rare pendant lamp was designed by John Reed for Rotaflex, in the 1950's/1960's. A very beautiful design because of the simplicity. The shade is made out of Cellulose Acetate (pl...

Sugar ball sphere pendant lamp Materials: Orange imitation of sprinkled sugar crystals on a Rotaflex (cellulose acetate) sphere or ball. Bakelite E27 socket. Aluminum socket holder. Electricity: 1 lamp E27, 1 x 100 watts maximum, 110/220 volts. Any type of light bulb can be used, not a specific one is preferred. Period: 1960 - Mid-Century Modern. Designer: John & Sylvia Reid. Manufacturer: Rotaflex Ltd, Rotaflex House, 241 City Road and Princess Street, London, United Kingdom. Other versions: This sugar ball Sphere hanging lamp is available in many colors and 5 sizes. Sphere is their original name, as you can see in the catalog image. The plastic type Rotaflex was invented by Rotaflex together with the French company A.R.P. – L'Atelier de Recherche Plastique (workshop for plastics research). Rotaflex Rotaflex was founded in 1953 and was led by Bernard Stern, who took the company to one of Britain's leading lighting makers in just a few years. John & Sylvia Reid were two of the most famous consultant designers for the lighting manufacturers Rotaflex. They are known for their Metallux, Interplay, Honeycombs, Fernland Cylinders lamp designs and many more. John & Sylvia Reid also designed furniture for Stag between 1952 and 1962. Their S Series furniture is back in production, you can find it on their website. Rotaflex received several design awards in 1957, including iF Design awards for this type of pendant light. The company Rotaflex no longer exists. Atelier de Recherche Plastique The Atelier de Recherche Plastique was founded in 1954 by Pierre Guariche (1926 – 1995), Joseph-André Motte (1925 – 2013) and Michel Mortier (1925 – 2015). The three young designers wanted to shake up the codes of classicism by drawing new shapes to create more accessible furniture and lamps. All three met while working at designer Marcel Gascoin's office. In 1954, they took part in the Salon des Arts Ménagers (Household Art Fair) and received numerous awards. Their furniture and lamps were produced by companies such as Airborne, Disderot (Atelier Pierre Disderot), Meubles TV, Huchers-Minvielle, Luminalite, Steiner and Rotaflex. The ARP, Atelier de Recherche Plastique did not last long. 3 years later, in 1957, the company stops. In Germany it was Sompex Licht und Form, Rolf O. Burghard KG Düsseldorf, who produced and sold them. In Belgium and some other countries in Europe they were sold by Massive. Disderot produced and sold them in France. Philips from the Netherlands had a number of lamps in its collection. In Sweden, these lamps were called Rotoflex and were produced by Bergboms. Designers: Alf Svensson, Bertil Roos, Sigvard Bernadotte. IKEA also sold these sugar pendant lights, as you can see. But at that time, IKEA was only active in Scandinavia. In Finland they were sold by Oy Plastex AB and Stockman ORNO. Here on Vintageinfo you will find several lamps in the catalogue. In the US they were produced and sold by Heifetz, Lightolier and Verplex. Cellulose Acetate Cellulose Acetate is an early acrylate, sold under the trade names Rhodoid in France and Great Britain, Tenite in the USA and Cellon in Germany. It was first prepared in 1865. Cellulose acetate is used as a film base in photography, for eyeglasses, cigarette filters...