About the Maker

Rakumba Pottery

Rakumba Pottery began in Melbourne in 1968, founded by Lyndsay Betts as a small ceramics business. Its early production included vases and ceramic table lamps, establishing a connection between decorative pottery and domestic lighting that would shape the company's development.

The workshop manufactured ceramic lamp bases and handmade lampshades, primarily for the residential market. These pottery origins are an important distinction for vintage collectors: early Rakumba pieces belong to the company's ceramic-making period, rather than its later identity as a contemporary lighting manufacturer.

Over time, the business moved from ceramic lamps into larger-scale commercial lighting. Michael Murray purchased Rakumba in 2009, beginning a further stage of development through new materials, refined production methods and collaborations with established designers.

Today, Rakumba continues as a Melbourne-based decorative lighting design and manufacturing company, producing contemporary collections and bespoke installations. Its evolution from a small pottery workshop to an internationally recognised lighting brand gives the surviving early ceramics a distinctive place within Australian design history.

Read more about Rakumba's pottery origins here, and the company's continuing story here.

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