De Rupel Opal Glass Desk Lamp by Herwig & Frank Sterckx (White)

Opal glass desk lamp designed by Herwig & Frank Sterckx, produced by Glasfabriek De Rupel and sold by Massive. The lamp is made in a similar shape to a light bulb. It featured four white opal frosted glass rings with a globe on top. It fits one E27 bulb inside. Herwig and Frank Sterckx are graphic designers from Antwerp, Belgium. The twin brothers studied at the Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten van Antwerpen (Royal Academy of Fine Arts).

Their dad, Piet Sterckx was a journalist and he wrote an article for a newspaper about the Spanish glass blowers that worked in the glass factory in Boom, “N.V. Glasfabriek De Rupel” (Limited Liability Company Glass Factory De Rupel), named after the river that runs along the city.

The director of the glass factory asked Piet Sterckx if he knew someone who could make modern designs. He first asked his sons that then studied at the academy in Antwerp. In the period 1968 – 1969, the duo designed a whole series of lamps for De Rupel. All the lamps were hand blown in steel moulds. The test pieces were first blown into wooden moulds.

Herwig and Frank Sterckx, students at that time, never heard anything about production and were never paid for their work. The director died suddenly and the successor claimed not to believe in the modern direction.

Dimensions 
Height: 34 cm
Ø: 26 cm