Poul Henningsen PH Snowball Kontrast Pendant Lamp by Louis Poulsen
View Similar Items
Poul Henningsen PH Snowball Kontrast Pendant Lamp by Louis Poulsen
About the Item
- Creator:Poul Henningsen (Designer),Louis Poulsen (Maker)
- Design:
- Dimensions:Height: 17.72 in (45 cm)Diameter: 15.75 in (40 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1960
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Lisboa, PT
- Reference Number:Seller: 07564/21 1stDibs: LU4727224248102
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.
- Danish Poul Henningsen Contrast Pendant Lamp by Louis PoulsenBy Poul Henningsen, Louis PoulsenLocated in Lisboa, LisboaThe "Contrast" pendant light, a masterwork designed by Poul Henningsen in 1960 for the Danish lighting manufacturer, Louis Poulsen. The design is a true representation of Henningsen'...Category
Vintage 1960s Danish Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsAluminum, Steel
$3,972 Sale Price20% Off - Midcentury Floor Lamp PH 80 by Poul Henningsen for Louis PoulsenBy Poul Henningsen, Louis PoulsenLocated in Lisboa, LisboaThe PH 80 floor lamp, a design that embodies the ingenuity and aesthetics of Poul Henningsen. Created as a tribute for what would have been his 80th birthday in 1974, this lamp is a ...Category
Vintage 1970s Danish Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsChrome
$3,089 Sale Price / set20% Off - Poul Henningsen, Pair of PH Hat Wall Lamp, Louis Poulsen, 1961By Poul Henningsen, Louis PoulsenLocated in Lisboa, LisboaThe Poul Henningsen Hat Wall Lamp, created by the esteemed Danish designer Poul Henningsen and produced by Louis Poulsen, is a masterpiece of lighting design that seamlessly blends f...Category
Vintage 1960s Danish Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsMetal
$1,059 Sale Price / set20% Off - Poul Henningsen, Set of Seven PH Hat Wall Lamp, Louis PoulsenBy Poul Henningsen, Louis PoulsenLocated in Lisboa, LisboaThe PH Hat Wall Lamp, designed by the legendary Danish designer Poul Henningsen for Louis Poulsen, is an iconic piece that exemplifies timeless design and functionality. Created in 1...Category
Vintage 1960s Danish Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsMetal
$2,207 Sale Price / set20% Off - Pendant Lamp Trava Design by Sigurd “Carl Thore”, 1960By Carl Thore, GranhagaLocated in Lisboa, LisboaIconic Swedish trava pendant designed by Sigurd (Carl Thore) Lindkvistfor for Granhaga Metallindustri. It’s finished in shades of metallic brass colour and the innermost shades are l...Category
Vintage 1960s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsAluminum
- Pendant Lamp by Jo Hammerborg for Fog & Mørup, 1960By Jo Hammerborg, Fog & MørupLocated in Lisboa, LisboaThis pendant lamp is a testament to the innovative design spirit of the 1960s, designed by Jo Hammerborg and produced by the renowned Danish company Fog & Mørup. Its construction con...Category
Vintage 1960s Danish Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsAluminum
$573 Sale Price20% Off
- 1960s Louis Poulsen PH Kontrast Pendant Lamp by Poul Henningsen DenmarkBy Poul Henningsen, Louis PoulsenLocated in Sherborne, DorsetThis iconic 1960s “Kontrast” pendant lamp was designed by Poul Henningsen for Louis Poulsen. Henningsen began his collaboration with Copenhagen-based lighting company Louis Poulsen i...Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsAluminum, Steel
- Poul Henningsen PH Snowball Pendant for Louis PoulsenBy Poul Henningsen, Louis PoulsenLocated in Glendale, CAPoul Henningsen PH snowball pendant for Louis Poulsen. The PH snowball pendant light emits comfortable glare–free diffused light. He composed of spun alum...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Scandinavian Modern Chandeliers and...
MaterialsAluminum
- “Kontrast” Pendant Lamp by Poul Henningsen for Louis PoulsenBy Poul Henningsen, Louis PoulsenLocated in Stockholm, SEStriking “Kontrast” pendant lamp by Poul Henningsen. Lacquered white on the outside and orange red and purplish blue on the inside. Spreads an amazing...Category
Vintage 1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsAluminum, Steel
- Poul Henningsen Kontrast Pendant for Louis PoulsenBy Poul Henningsen, Louis PoulsenLocated in Vienna, ATAluminum lacquered white/orange and chromed parts with black lacquered brass fittings. PH kontrast or snowball designed by Poul Henningsen in 1958-1962 and manufactured by Louis Poulsen. Literature: Light Years Ahead...Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsAluminum, Steel
- Poul Henningsen Ph Snowball PendantBy Poul Henningsen, Louis PoulsenLocated in Berkeley, CAThe fixture emits comfortable glare-free diffuse light. Matte painted undersurfaces and glossy top surfaces result in an attractive reflection of the diffused light, creating uniform...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers an...
MaterialsChrome
$3,936 / item - Pendant Light "Ph Snowball" Designed by Poul Henningsen, Louis Poulsen, DenmarkBy Poul Henningsen, Louis PoulsenLocated in Hägersten, SECeiling light model "PH snowball" designed by Poul Henningsen. Designed in 1958 put first put in production from 1983. Produced in Denmark by Louis Poulsen...Category
Vintage 1950s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsMetal, Aluminum