Early Poul Henningsen Copper Table Lamp, 1930s
About the Item
- Creator:Poul Henningsen (Designer),Louis Poulsen (Maker)
- Dimensions:Height: 21.26 in (54 cm)Width: 15.75 in (40 cm)Depth: 15.75 in (40 cm)
- Style:Scandinavian Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1930
- Condition:Rewired. Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Copenhagen, DK
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU154128609423
Poul Henningsen
The name Poul Henningsen is synonymous with the best and most innovative modern Scandinavian lamps and other lighting. The Danish designer created a signature vocabulary of fixtures with tiered and layered shades in sculptural arrangements that are at once naturalistic and geometric.
Henningsen grew up in a town on the outskirts of Copenhagen and studied architecture at the Technical University of Denmark. He would become a noted art critic, journalist and screenwriter, but his first love was lighting design.
Henningsen’s childhood home was illuminated by oil lamps. When his family switched to electrified lighting, he was alarmed and repelled by the harsh glare cast by an incandescent bulb, and in his late teens he began conducting quasi-scientific experiments to measure which materials and methods best diffused or reflected light to give it a warm brightness. His work came to the attention of the lighting-fixtures firm Louis Poulsen, which sponsored the development of a prototype lamp. The design won a gold medal at the 1925 Paris Expositions Internationales des Arts Decóratifs et Industriels Modernes — from which the term Art Deco derives. The lamp, whose three-part shade is said to be inspired by the arrangement of a dinner plate atop a soup bowl atop a teacup, became the basis for Henningsen’s most successful design, the PH 4/3 desk lamp.
All told, Henningsen would design some 100 lighting fixtures in his career. Some of his most notable creations are hanging lamps, which include the Septima (1929), a pendant composed of seven graduated frosted-glass layers; the Spiral (1942), made of a single ribbon of enameled aluminum; and the Artichoke lamp (1958), whose 70 glass or metal fins in a staggered and graduated arrangement on a central steel frame resemble those of its namesake. The last is likely Henningsen’s masterwork and an icon of mid-20th-century design. Like all Henningsen lighting designs, it is striking, sculptural and — thanks to his insistence on the primacy of the quality of the light cast — superbly functional.
Find a collection of authentic Poul Henningsen table lamps, floor lamps and other lighting on 1stDibs.
Louis Poulsen
Louis Poulsen is world-renowned as an innovator in modern Danish lighting, but this wasn’t the goal from the start. Founded in 1874 by Ludvig R. Poulsen as a wine importer, the business went through several incarnations before its first pendant lights came to fruition. Through its designs, the company helped establish the foundations of good lighting — function, comfort and ambience — that are now standard in modern furniture design.
In 1924, Danish architect Poul Henningsen partnered with Louis Poulsen & Co., then an electrical supply company, to create what’s now known as the Paris lamp. This design, which incorporated three layers of curved metal disks, created ambience with its indirect light instead of glare. Shown at the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris — the exhibition that brought Art Deco design to worldwide attention — the Paris lamp was awarded a gold medal. This led to Poulsen and Henningsen working together on several lighting pieces, including the popular PH pendant light with its concentric shades for the Forum Building in Copenhagen. These high-profile projects helped make Louis Poulsen a go-to purveyor of innovative lighting design.
One of the company’s most well-known lamps is Henningsen’s PH Artichoke lamp (1958), with its 72 copper leaves artfully placed to conceal the light bulb, prevent glare and promote a warm, alluring glow in any room. Another is the steel and die-cast zinc AJ lamp (1960), which Arne Jacobsen designed with an adjustable angled shade for his commission for the SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen. The company has also worked with notables such as Verner Panton and Alfred Homann as well as, more recently, Louise Campbell and Oki Sato.
In 2010, the company was awarded the American Institute of Architects’ Honors in Collaborative Achievement Award; it was the first lighting manufacturer to receive this honor. In 2018, the company was acquired by an investment subsidiary of Investindustrial VI L.P. Still headquartered in Denmark, the brand continues to produce its high-end lighting for both indoor and outdoor use, manufacturing both classic icons as well as new designs. “We design to shape light,” states Louis Poulsen. In doing so, they have also shaped culture.
Find a range of new and vintage Louis Poulsen floor lamps, table lamps and other lighting and furniture on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Copenhagen, Denmark
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 7 days of delivery.
- Early Poul Henningsen 3/2 Table Lamp Shades in Copper, 1930sBy Louis Poulsen, Poul HenningsenLocated in Copenhagen, DKPoul Henningsen & Louis Poulsen, Scandinavian Modern The iconic Poul Henningsen (PH 3/2) table lamp with shades in copper. Stand and socket house of browned brass. Bakelite swi...Category
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsCopper
- Early Poul Henningsen Table Lamp in Brass with Copper Shades, 1927-1928By Louis Poulsen, Poul HenningsenLocated in Copenhagen, DKPoul Henningsen & Louis Poulsen, Mid-century Modern design The iconic Poul Henningsen (PH 3/2) table lamp with copper shades. Stand, switch and socket house of browned brass. Top...Category
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsBrass, Copper
- Poul Henningsen, Rare Pair of Elongated Wall Lamps, Scandinavan Modern, 1940sBy Louis Poulsen, Poul HenningsenLocated in Copenhagen, DKPOUL HENNINGSEN & LOUIS POULSEN SCANDINAVIAN MODERN Rare and sculptural set of The Elongated Lamps by Poul Henningsen (PH) designed in 1931 and manufa...Category
Mid-20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsBrass
- Rare and Early Just Andersen Table Lamp, Dessin D8, Disco Metal, Denmark 1920sBy Just AndersenLocated in Copenhagen, DKJUST ANDERSEN - DENMARK 1920s Large and rare table lamp in patinated disko metal made by Danish designer and pioneer Just Andersen in 1920s. The lamp is beautifully decorated ...Category
Early 20th Century Danish Art Deco Table Lamps
MaterialsMetal
- Vintage Arne Jacobsen Saint Catherine Oxford Table Lamp Scandinavian ModernBy Arne JacobsenLocated in Copenhagen, DKARNE JACOBSEN & LOUIS POULSEN SCANDINAVIAN MODERN A beautiful vintage Arne Jacobsen Saint Catherine table lamp. This lamp is also called the Oxford Table Lamp...Category
Mid-20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsMetal
- Early Arne Jacobsen Brass Wall Lamp, DenmarkBy Louis Poulsen, Arne JacobsenLocated in Copenhagen, DKArne Jacobsen and Louis Poulsen, Scandinavian Modern Early rare lamp designed by Arne Jacobsen and manufactured by Louis Poulsen for Gentofte Stadium and KFUM 1936-1943. The wall ...Category
Mid-20th Century European Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsBrass
- Vintage Table Lamp "PH-Lamp" by PH / Poul Henningsen, Louis Poulsen, 1930sBy Louis Poulsen, Poul HenningsenLocated in Odense, DKStunning original production PH-table lamp model "3,5/2" by Poul Henningsen manufactured at Louis Poulsen, Copenhagen in the 1930s. The lamp base is made from patinated brass and brown bakelite parts.. The upper shade is made from yellow lacquered metal with a wonderful patina while the middle and lower are made from two layered opaline glass which gives a wonderful light distribution. A beautiful and rare example of the world famous lamp icon. Poul Henningsen designed the three-shade system back in 1925-1926. The first lights using the system were designed by PH in cooperation with Louis Poulsen for an exhibition in Paris. PH sought to create glare-free light, direct light where it was most needed, and create soft shadows, using incandescent bulbs as a light source. PH 3/2 Table is a member of the three-shade family. Thus PH did not just design a light, but an entire system – around a thousand different models have been produced over the years. PH was the first person to pursue a scientific approach to light and use the logarithmic spiral as a basis. By using a design based on the logarithmic spiral he achieved even distribution of light over the entire curve of the shade. This even light distribution, together with the diffuse reflection through the glass, made it possible to control glare and shadow. Each shade reduces the amount of light equally, due to their distance from the light source. The PH light model numbers refer to the shade size. Each top shade had a corresponding set of middle and lower shades. In the ‘pure’ models, such as the 2/2, the top shade has a size of about 20 cm, with corresponding lower shades. PH 3/2 Table consists of an app. 30 cm top shade, but uses lower shades from the 2/2 model. These ‘hybrid’ models were introduced due to the desire to hang the pendants at lower heights. The system was also used for wall, table and floor lamps. This specific example has a "3,5" top shade (33,7 cm.) and a "2" middle and lower shade making it a "3,5/2 PH lamp".Category
Vintage 1930s Danish Scandinavian Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsBrass
- Rare Poul Henningsen PH 3½-2 Table Lamp, 1930By Louis Poulsen, Poul HenningsenLocated in Los Angeles, CARare Poul Henningsen. PH-3½/2 table lamp with original single-layer yellow painted/opal glass shade set on a browned brass stem and shade holder w...Category
Vintage 1930s Danish Scandinavian Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsBrass
- Poul Henningsen, PH 3/2 Table Lamp, Early ModelBy Louis Poulsen, Poul HenningsenLocated in San Francisco, CAA table lamp by Poul Henningsen with browned brass frame, socket cover and top, mounted with 3/2 patinated copper shade set. No switch on the frame. Stamped 'Pat. Appl.' (highly valu...Category
Early 20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsBrass, Copper
- Poul Henningsen "PH 2/2" Vintergækken Table Desk Lamp in Brass and Glass, 1930sBy Louis Poulsen, Poul HenningsenLocated in Stockholm, SEVery rare mid century table desk lamp model "PH 2/2" Vintergækken by Poul Henningsen produced by Louis Poulsen Denmark early 1930s. In good original condition and working well. Stamp...Category
Vintage 1930s Danish Scandinavian Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsBrass
- Poul Henningsen 4/3 Table Lamp 1940sBy Louis Poulsen, Poul HenningsenLocated in Portland, ORLovely patinated brass table lamp by Poul Henningsen with lacquered copper top shade and yellow painted acid-stained glass lower shades. This example dates to the early 1940s. The to...Category
Vintage 1940s Danish Scandinavian Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsBrass, Copper
- Vintage 1940s Poul Henningsen Table LampBy Louis Poulsen, Poul HenningsenLocated in Portland, ORIconic design by Poul Henningsen in wonderfully patinated brass with original opaline glass diffusers and professionally re-lacquered copper top shade. Newly rewired for European out...Category
Mid-20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsBrass, Copper, Enamel