Illuminated Mirrors by Poul Henningsen
View Similar Items
Illuminated Mirrors by Poul Henningsen
About the Item
- Creator:Poul Henningsen (Designer),Louis Poulsen (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 5 in (12.7 cm)Diameter: 19.75 in (50.17 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Scandinavian Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1955-1965
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Glass has two minor chips on backside of glass as pictured. Age appropriate oxidation to glass, including vertical line to one glass. Minor, age appropriate nicks and scratches to white finish. One chipped, plastic cord pull. They look great overall.
- Seller Location:Brooklyn, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU94955180253
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.
- Jumbo Round Porthole Infinity MirrorLocated in Brooklyn, NYFor your consideration is this vintage, all-original infinity mirror. The front glass is a two-way mirror behind which is a single ring of lights which ...Category
Vintage 1980s American Modern Wall Mirrors
MaterialsAluminum
- Tommi Parzinger Wall Mirror with PlanterBy Tommi ParzingerLocated in Brooklyn, NYFor your consideration is this mid-century modern mirror with planter by Tommi Parzinger. The mirrored glass has beveled edges, is mounted on wood ...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Wall Mirrors
MaterialsBrass
- Illuminated Omnibus Coffee or End TableBy Vladimir KaganLocated in Brooklyn, NYFor your consideration is this rare Illuminated Omnibus low table composed of a white finished wood case elevated on a lucite sled base. The top is...Category
Vintage 1970s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsPlastic, Acrylic, Wood
- Pair of Poul Kjærholm PK-71 Cube Nesting TablesBy Poul KjærholmLocated in Brooklyn, NYFor your consideration is this pair of Poul Kjærholm PK-71 Cube Nesting Tables dating from the 1960s. They feature elegantly slim metal frames with the original inset white acrylic t...Category
Vintage 1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Nesting Tables and Stacking Tables
MaterialsMetal
- Modern Freestanding Full Length Lipstick MirrorLocated in Brooklyn, NYFor your consideration is this freestanding full length lipstick mirror featuring a modern sliced tubular form with original inset glass mirror and bl...Category
Vintage 1970s Unknown Modern Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
MaterialsMirror, Plastic, Fiberglass
- Teak Magazine Rack by Plyfa, DenmarkBy PlyfaLocated in Brooklyn, NYFor your consideration is this Danish Modern teak magazine rack by Plyfa, Denmark, dating from the 1960s. The slim components and splayed, tapered legs create a light, elegant profil...Category
Vintage 1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Magazine Racks and Stands
MaterialsTeak
- Poul Henningsen PH Mirror by Louis Poulsen DenmarkBy Louis Poulsen, Poul HenningsenLocated in Roosendaal, Noord BrabantVery nice pair of PH Boudoir mirrors designed by Poul Henningsen and manufactured by Louis Poulsen, Denmark 1939. Poul Henningsen created the mirror of ...Category
Vintage 1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Wall Mirrors
MaterialsAluminum
- Illuminated Floral Mirror by PalwaBy Kinkeldey, Ernest Palme, Palwa, Bakalowits & Söhne, StilnovoLocated in München, DEWonderful and very luxurious mirror by Palwa from the 1960s. The frame with the lavishly decorated crystal glass flowers sparkles particularly beautifully. A stunning mirror and a re...Category
Vintage 1960s German Hollywood Regency Wall Mirrors
MaterialsBrass
- Illuminated Sunburst MirrorBy Mathieu Matégot, Egon Hillebrand, Arteluce, StilnovoLocated in München, DEVery nice illuminated mirror from the 1950s. Wonderful workmanship. The slits in the frame create a beautiful radiant play of light. Condition: Very good vintage condition wi...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Mirrors
MaterialsMetal
- Illuminated Acrylic MirrorBy HillebrandLocated in North Hollywood, CABacklit illuminated acrylic vanity mirror made in Germany in 1970’s Only mirror is 14" diameter. It requires four E14 base bulbs which can be purchased at Amazon. It needs to be hard...Category
Vintage 1970s German Hollywood Regency Wall Mirrors
MaterialsAcrylic
$1,250 - Swedish Modern Illuminated Mirror, 1940sBy Josef FrankLocated in Stockholm, SESwedish illuminated mirror, produced during the 1940s. In the manner of Josef Frank work. Made from off-white lacquered metal with swirling decorative edge. Three lights rece...Category
Mid-20th Century Swedish Scandinavian Modern Wall Mirrors
MaterialsMetal
- Illuminated Mirror with Crystal Flowers by PalwaBy PalwaLocated in North Hollywood, CAIlluminated mirror with crystal flowers by Palwa.Category
Vintage 1980s German Hollywood Regency Wall Mirrors
MaterialsCrystal, Brass