Vintage Industrial Lighting - Holophane

John Zoffa has been sourcing reclaimed industrial lighting from mills, factories, warehouses and other older industrial spaces for many years. We've supplied salvaged retro vintage industrial lights to shops, bars, restaurants and private projects all over the world. Vintage industrial lighting brings an instant character and quality to an interior scheme that new lighting struggles to do.  Not only does original industrial lighting emulate heritage and age but timeless design and exceptional engineering.

We pride ourselves on finding the very best industrial lighting from the most incredible industrial environments of yesteryear.  This particular blog from John Zoffa is one in a series looking at some of the most prestigious and well-respected lighting manufacturers from our rich industrial past. Furthermore, each blog within the series will also be accompanied by a selection of original industrial lighting produced by those illustrious manufacturers and which can also currently be found for sale on the John Zoffa website. These brands and their associated lighting exemplified that incredible design and exceptional quality which made them world renowned and leaders within their field. 

Holophane

The lighting manufacturers Holophane were originally founded in 1898 and the hallmark of their luminaires was the borosilicate glass reflector, which acted as a prism providing a combination of uplight and downlight, to illuminate any environment evenly without creating dark spots or glare.  As a result Holophane lights were frequently used in churches, as street-lights and to illuminate older factories and industrial spaces.  Their ribbed glass prismatic shades called Holophane are iconic and operated by breaking up and spreading the beam of light into a myriad of beams using prisms, making a much more effective light source and perfect for the early days of electricity. 

A personal favourite across the John Zoffa collection, vintage Holophanes are outstanding examples of twentieth century lighting.  Their iconic design and unparalleled quality have influenced and shaped so many modern reproductions seen across the lighting industry today.  We sell only original vintage Holophanes, these delicate iconic designs are becoming increasingly more difficult to find, particularly as each light encompassed a number of glass prism pieces, which has made them even more arduous to preserve.  The below few photographs illustrate their exceptional beauty and depict the various sizes and styles which are currently available in the John Zoffa collection.