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Mathmos is a British company that sells
/ref> Mathmos’ lava lamp sales have been through a number of ups and downs. After selling millions of lamps worldwide in the 1960s and 70s they did not revive until the 1990s. In 1989, Cressida Granger and David Mulley took over the running of Walker's original company, Crestworth, situated in Poole,
/ref> Edward Craven-Walker remained a consultant and company director at Mathmos until his death in 2000.
Since 1999, and under the sole ownership of Cressida Granger, Mathmos widened its product range whilst maintaining and building on the classic Mathmos lava lamp range.
Mathmos developed new products both in house with the Mathmos Design Studio and with a number of external designers such as Ross Lovegrove and El Ultimo Grito.
New lines include a range of colour changing and rechargeable lights, several of which have won design awards. Mathmos has recently turned its attention back to its classic British made lava lamp range In 2013, it celebrated its 50th anniversary with a limited edition of the classic Astro by Christine Craven Walker, wife and business partner of the inventor. They also showed the biggest lava lamp in the world in
/ref> D&AD commendation 2001, Red Dot Award 2001, Light Magazine Decorative Lighting Award 2001
The Sunday Times, Hugh Pearman, 23 November 2003, Design Classics - Lava Lamp
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Light Up Poole, Digital Light Art Festival
British brands Companies based in Dorset Companies based in Poole Lighting brands Electronics companies of the United Kingdom Purbeck District Electronics companies established in 1963 1963 establishments in England
lighting
Lighting or illumination is the deliberate use of light to achieve practical or aesthetic effects. Lighting includes the use of both artificial light sources like lamps and light fixtures, as well as natural illumination by capturing daylig ...
products, most famously the lava lamp
A lava lamp is a decorative lamp, invented in 1963 by British entrepreneur Edward Craven Walker, the founder of the lighting company Mathmos. It consists of a bolus of a special coloured wax mixture inside a glass vessel, the remainder of which ...
invented by its founder Edward Craven Walker. It is headquartered in its factory in Poole, Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...
.
Company history
The Astro lamp, orlava lamp
A lava lamp is a decorative lamp, invented in 1963 by British entrepreneur Edward Craven Walker, the founder of the lighting company Mathmos. It consists of a bolus of a special coloured wax mixture inside a glass vessel, the remainder of which ...
, was invented around 1963 by Edward Craven Walker. It was adapted from a design for an egg timer spotted in a pub in Dorset, England. Edward and Christine Craven-Walker licensed the product to a number of overseas markets whilst continuing to manufacture for the European market themselves under the original name of the company, Crestworth.
The rights to produce and sell the lamp on the American market for the duration of the patent were sold to Lava Simplex International, in 1966. The American company has now closed the American factory and has the lava lamps made in China.
In Europe Craven-Walker’s original lava lamp designs have been in continuous production since the early 1960s and are still made today by Mathmos in Poole, Dorset, UK. The Mathmos lava lamp formula developed initially by Craven-Walker in the 1960s and then improved with his help in the 1990s is still used.Lava lamp creators mark 50 years of 1960s icon, BBC News, 30 August 2013/ref> Mathmos’ lava lamp sales have been through a number of ups and downs. After selling millions of lamps worldwide in the 1960s and 70s they did not revive until the 1990s. In 1989, Cressida Granger and David Mulley took over the running of Walker's original company, Crestworth, situated in Poole,
Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...
, and changed the name to Mathmos in 1992.
The name Mathmos comes from the seething lake of lava beneath the city Sogo in the 1962 comic '' Barbarella''.
The 1990s re-launch of the original lava lamps saw sales grow strongly for Mathmos again from 10,000 lamps a year in 1989 to 800,000 lamps a year in 1999. Mathmos won two Queens Awards for Export and a number of other business awards.Mathmos at Southbank Centre, The London Design Festival, September 2013/ref> Edward Craven-Walker remained a consultant and company director at Mathmos until his death in 2000.
Modern Mathmos
Since 1999, and under the sole ownership of Cressida Granger, Mathmos widened its product range whilst maintaining and building on the classic Mathmos lava lamp range.
Mathmos developed new products both in house with the Mathmos Design Studio and with a number of external designers such as Ross Lovegrove and El Ultimo Grito.
New lines include a range of colour changing and rechargeable lights, several of which have won design awards. Mathmos has recently turned its attention back to its classic British made lava lamp range In 2013, it celebrated its 50th anniversary with a limited edition of the classic Astro by Christine Craven Walker, wife and business partner of the inventor. They also showed the biggest lava lamp in the world in London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
’s Southbank Centre.
In 2016, Mathmos launched Neo, the first lava lamp tested for children and adults, and opened a “Special Projects” division offering giant bespoke lava lamps. The first one is in Selfridges
Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co., is a chain of high-end department stores in the United Kingdom that is operated by Selfridges Retail Limited, part of the Selfridges Group of department stores. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridg ...
, London as part the new accessories department designed by David Chipperfield.
In 2017 Mathmos launched Neo wall the only wall mounted lava lamp. Mathmos also launched their first limited edition collaboration with Liam Gallagher's fashion brand Pretty Green during London Design Week with a window in London’s Carnaby Street
Carnaby Street is a pedestrianised shopping street in Soho in the City of Westminster, Central London. Close to Oxford Street and Regent Street, it is home to fashion and lifestyle retailers, including many independent fashion boutiques.
S ...
.
Mathmos celebrated the centenary of the birth of its founder and the inventor of the lava lamp Edward Craven Walker in 2018. Mathmos lava lamps appeared in a number of exhibitions including Pop & Protest and the Festival of Lights in Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
that year. Mathmos also launched its second sell-out collaboration with Pretty Green and had a dedicated programme on its British production process as part of ITV's Made in Britain series.
A new giant lava lamp iO was launched in 2019 the FIRST100 numbered edition selling out within hours. New candle powered lava lamps Pod and Pod + were also launched. The new lamps were photographed at Second Home co-working space in London Fields and in the iconic Barbican in London.
In 2020 Mathmos teamed with Poole Museum
Poole Museum (formerly known as the Waterfront Museum) is a local history museum situated on the Lower High Street in the Old Town area of Poole, Dorset, and is part of the Borough of Poole Museum Service. Entrance to Poole Museum is free, and th ...
as part of the Light Up Poole event. Showcasing its lava lamps in the windows and throughout the museum. Mathmos moved into a new larger factory in Poole just before lockdown and has stayed open through the Covid-19 pandemic working safely throughout.
Business and marketing awards
*Queens Awards for Export 2000 and 1997 *Fast Track 100 (3rd fastest growing manufacturer 1999) *Yell Award best commercial website 1997 *Design Week Best Consumer website 1998Product design awards
*"Grito" lamp shade: Red Dot Award 2006 *"Airswitch tc" light: Gift Magazine Design Homewares winner 2005. *"Aduki" Design Week commendation 2003 *"Tumbler" light: Form 2001 award, Red Dot Award 2002, Design Week commendation 2002 *"Fluidium": Design Week finalist best consumer product 2001, FX Magazine finalist best lighting product 2000 *"Bubble" Light: Industrial Design Excellence Award (IDEA) 2001,I.D.S.A./ref> D&AD commendation 2001, Red Dot Award 2001, Light Magazine Decorative Lighting Award 2001
Exhibitions and design yearbooks
*Mathmos Vintage Lava Lamp Exhibition 2009 at London Design Festival *"Astro" Design Icons Exhibition Harrods & Design Museum 2008 *"Telstar" Space Age, Museum of Childhood 2007 *"bubble, Airswitch tc, aduki ni, grito" all in the V&A permanent collection from 2006 *"Airswitch tc" V&A "Touch Me" exhibition spring 2005 *"Fluidium" "Blobjects and Beyond" San Jose Museum of Art 2005 *‘bubble" Great Expectations Exhibition Design Council 2003 *"Aduki" light: International Design Year Book 2003 *"Tumbler" International Design Year Book 2002. *"Bubble" "Skin" exhibition at Cooper Hewitt Museum New York 2001 *"bubble" Design Council exhibition New York 2002, International Design Year Book 2001 *50th Birthday Exhibition at The Royal Festival Hall London September 2013 *Launch of 50th Birthday limited edition Astro at Aria, Islington, London; September 2013 *Astro displayed at The Geffrye Museum London as part of The London Design Festival *Mathmos Lava Lamps Poole Museum as part of Light Up Poole 2020 > *“Astro Lava Lamp” at Pop & Protest Exhibition at Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg 2019References
{{reflistThe Sunday Times, Hugh Pearman, 23 November 2003, Design Classics - Lava Lamp
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Light Up Poole, Digital Light Art Festival
External links
* http://www.mathmos.co.ukBritish brands Companies based in Dorset Companies based in Poole Lighting brands Electronics companies of the United Kingdom Purbeck District Electronics companies established in 1963 1963 establishments in England