Artichoke in Brushed Steel by Poul Henningsen and Louis Poulsen

About the Item
- Creator:Louis Poulsen (Manufacturer),Poul Henningsen (Designer)
- Design:
- Dimensions:Height: 22.84 in (58 cm)Diameter: 23.63 in (60 cm)
- Power Source:Hardwired
- Voltage:220-240v
- Lampshade:Included
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:Steel,Brushed
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:Late 2000s
- Condition:Refinished. Wear consistent with age and use. Everything we sell to customers will be inspected thoroughly at our professional workshop by our educated carpenters, who assures the products quality.
- Seller Location:Lejre, DK
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU120928644943
Artichoke Lamp
The PH Artichoke lamp was born out of a lighting commission Poul Henningsen (1894–1967) received from Danish architects Eva and Nils Koppel to outfit the newly rebuilt Langelinie Pavilion, a Copenhagen restaurant that was bombed during World War II by the Germans with support from Danish collaborators. The original space — situated on the Copenhagen waterfront — dated back to 1902 and was a beloved spot for socializing in the city. The new, modernist 11-story pavilion was completed by the Koppels in 1958.
The objective for Henningsen, a Danish architect, designer and author, was to create a light that was beautiful, whether it was on or off. To do so, he returned to a piece he had tinkered with three decades earlier: the PH Septima, a pendant fixture with seven light shades. He updated his old design for the Koppels by paying homage to the humble, edible globe artichoke.
Henningsen devised 72 copper “leaves” that he staggered in rows to completely hide the light bulb inside and prevent any harsh glare from materializing. Each of the 12 rows would have six leaves. The genius of the Artichoke lamp lay in Henningsen’s choice to marry design with material. He was drawn to the gas lamps that illuminated his Danish hometown as a child and yearned to re-create the warmth that we attribute to gas lighting. The Artichoke lamp’s decorative arrangement of bent sheet copper emits a similarly radiant hue when lit from within, lending a healthy glow to the guests in the room. It took Henningsen only three months to finish the design upon receiving the commission.
The initial version of the Artichoke lamp was manufactured by Danish lighting company Louis Poulsen, with which Henningsen began working in 1925. When the fixture was ultimately hung in the Langelinie Pavilion, it was so heavy that it required suspension from steel aircraft cables.
The widely popular Artichoke lamp embodies Henningsen’s core beliefs about lighting. “This lamp is constructed with the most difficult and noble task in mind: lighting in the home,” he said. “The aim is to beautify the home and those who live there.”
This mantra rang true throughout Henningsen’s career, as it also helps define other signature pieces of his, such as the PH5 pendant lamp, PH table lamp and more. Henningsen’s original PH lamp design won first prize for modern lighting at the International Exposition of Decorative Arts in Paris in 1925.
Louis Poulsen continues to produce Henningsen’s floor lamps, sconces and more, and the Artichoke lamp is still available in its original copper as well as other assorted materials.
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.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Lejre, Denmark
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 7 days of delivery.
- Artichoke, in Brushed Steel Ø60, Designed by Poul Henningsen in 1958By Poul Henningsen, Louis PoulsenLocated in Lejre, DKArtichoke, measures: Ø60, in brushed steel designed by Poul Henningsen in 1958 and manufactured by Louis Poulsen. The pendant is in great used condition from the 1980s. We have two i...Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsSteel
- PH 3/2 Pendant by Poul Henningsen and Louis PoulsenBy Poul Henningsen, Louis PoulsenLocated in Lejre, DKPH 3/2 pendant designed by Poul Henningsen and manufactured by Louis Poulsen. The lamp is of white opaline glass and black chromed.Category
Vintage 1930s Danish Scandinavian Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsOpaline Glass
- PH Contrast by Poul Henningsen and Louis Poulsen, 1960sBy Poul Henningsen, Louis PoulsenLocated in Lejre, DKAn Exquisite Piece of Design History: The PH "Kontrast" Pendant Lamp by Poul Henningsen for Louis Poulsen, Denmark (1958-1962). Poul Henningsen's masterpiece, the "PH Kontrast" pend...Category
Vintage 1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsMetal, Aluminum
- White Artichoke, Designed by Poul Henningsen in 1958By Poul Henningsen, Louis PoulsenLocated in Lejre, DKWhite artichoke, Ø 48, designed by Poul Henningsen in 1958 and manufactured by Louis Poulsen. The pendant is in great used condition.Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsMetal
- PH 3/2 Akademi Designed by Poul Henningsen and Manufactured by Louis PoulsenBy Poul Henningsen, Louis PoulsenLocated in Lejre, DKPoul Henningsen's collaboration with Louis Poulsen began as early as 1925-1926, when PH, in partnership with Louis Poulsen, designed the first lamps for an exhibition in Paris. This ...Category
Early 2000s Danish Scandinavian Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsChrome
- Charlottenborg Pendant, Model Ph, Poul Henningsens, Louis PoulsenBy Louis Poulsen, Poul HenningsenLocated in Lejre, DKCharlottenborg pendant, model PH 5-4½/1x70W E27 by Ebbe Christensen & Sophus Frandsen based on Poul Henningsen's drawings for Louis Poulsen. This product will be inspected thoroug...Category
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsAluminum
- Poul Henningsen 'PH Artichoke' Steel Chandelier for Louis PoulsenBy Louis Poulsen, Poul HenningsenLocated in Glendale, CAPoul Henningsen 'PH Artichoke' Steel Chandelier for Louis Poulsen. The PH Artichoke pendant light was designed in 1958 by Poul Henningsen for the Langelinie Pavillonen restaurant ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Scandinavian Modern Chandeliers and...
MaterialsStainless Steel, Aluminum, Steel
- Louis Poulsen, Large Artichoke Chandelier by Poul HenningsenBy Louis Poulsen, Poul HenningsenLocated in Saint-Ouen, FRLouis Poulsen, large Artichoke chandelier by Poul Henningsen. Width x Height x Length (mm) 720 x 650 x 720, 17.3 kg Material: Leaves: Brass, stainle...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsMetal
- Louis Poulsen, Small Artichoke Chandelier by Poul HenningsenBy Louis Poulsen, Poul HenningsenLocated in Saint-Ouen, FRLouis Poulsen, small Artichoke chandelier by Poul Henningsen. Measures: Width 480 x Height 465 x Length 480 (mm), 8.6 kg Material: Leaves: brass, s...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsMetal
- Louis Poulsen, Medium Artichoke Chandelier by Poul HenningsenBy Louis Poulsen, Poul HenningsenLocated in Saint-Ouen, FRLouis Poulsen, Medium Artichoke chandelier by Poul Henningsen. Width x Height x Length (mm) 600 x 580 x 600, 13.9 kg Material: Leaves: Brass, stainless steel polished, cooper, whi...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsMetal
- Louis Poulsen PH Artichoke 840 Pendant Light in Steel by Poul HenningsenBy Louis Poulsen, Poul HenningsenLocated in Weston, FLPoul Henningsen was born in Copenhagen by the famous Danish actress Agnes Henningsen. He never graduated as an architect, but studied at The Technical School at Frederiksberg, Denmark from 1911-1914, and then at Technical College in Copenhagen from 1914-1917. He started practicing traditional functionalistic architecture, but over the years his professional interests changed to focus mainly on lighting which is what he is most famous for. The fixture provides 100% glare-free light. The 72 precisely positioned leaves form 12 unique rows of six leaves each. They illuminate the fixture as well as emitting diffused light with a unique pattern. The fixture provides decorative and comfortable lighting. For the energy saving LED variant the quality of light and atmosphere surrounding the product is kept at the highest level. Materials: Punched brass, punched copper...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsMetal
- Louis Poulsen PH Artichoke 720 Pendant Light in Steel by Poul HenningsenBy Louis Poulsen, Poul HenningsenLocated in Weston, FLPoul Henningsen was born in Copenhagen by the famous Danish actress Agnes Henningsen. He never graduated as an architect, but studied at The Technical School at Frederiksberg, Denmar...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsMetal