Mathmos and Sabine Marcelis, light that takes its time.

Published 3 November 2026 · WHV

A lava lamp asks very little of you. It does not refresh a feed or demand a response. Its shapes rise, separate and return. In Sabine Marcelis’s collaboration with Mathmos, frosted glass softens that familiar movement into something closer to a slowly changing field of colour.

From the factory to the room

The 2026 Astro pairs a white aluminium base with bubblegum-pink lava. Mathmos has announced 1,000 numbered pieces, with release scheduled for 5 November. The design accompanies Marcelis’s much larger Column lamps in her Zurich exhibition. The factory account shows the designer working with the people who make and fill the lamps in Britain.

The useful continuity is technical rather than nostalgic. An established object can carry a new visual idea because its maker still understands the relationship between the vessel, heat, light and fluid. Here the glass treatment changes the character of something recognisable without making its underlying operation mysterious.

Choose the light, not the number

See the lamp running before deciding whether you prefer this diffused effect to clear glass. It is a mains-powered decorative light with a halogen bulb, not an instant-on reading lamp. Check local electrical specifications, operating instructions and replacement-bottle availability. A numbered base describes the production run. It does not establish a future resale price.