Louis Poulsen Doo-Wop Pendant Lamp | Vintageinfo

Louis Poulsen Doo-Wop pendant lamp design: Henning Klok brass lampshade white metal conical tube 1950s 1960s

Louis Poulsen Doo-Wop Pendant Lamp – Navy Pendant (Søværnspendlen)
1960s Catalogue Picture

Louis Poulsen Doo-Wop Pendant Lamp
Prescolite 1966 Lighting Catalogue Picture

Doo-Wop pendant lamp – Chrome and copper versions

Lamps In The Movies

The Bridge (2015)

Two Jørn Utzon Søværnspendlen pendant lamps were used as a set decoration in the 2015 Nordic noir crime television series The Bridge (Broen – Bron). Starring Sofia Helin, Thure Lindhardt and Dag Malmberg. As you can see, these lamps are very similar, but much bigger. On the left the Arne Jacobsen AJ floor lamp designed in 1957 for the SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen (Radisson Collection).

Louis Poulsen Doo-Wop Pendant Lamp – Navy Pendant

Materials: Polished curved brass lampshade, painted white on the inside. Round white lacquered metal conical reflector inside. Some metal parts. Porcelain E27 socket.

Cord Length: 60 cm / 23.62’’

Height: 24,5 cm / 9.64”

Width: ∅ 28,3 cm / 11.14”

Electricity: 1 bulb E27, 1 x 100 watt maximum, 110/220 volt.
No specific type of light bulb is required; different types can be used.

Period: 1950s – Mid-Century Modern.

Designer: Henning Klok in collaboration with Søværnets Bygningsdistrikt (Navy building district).

Manufacturer: Louis Poulsen, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Other versions: The Louis Poulsen Doo-Wop pendant lamp was made in several colours. Since 2012, the model has been reintroduced under the name Doo-Wop in updated finishes and colours, including black, white and brass. In 2017, copper and stainless steel editions were added as well.

The lamp was originally known as the Navy Pendant (Søværnspendlen) and remained in production by Louis Poulsen until the early 1980s.

This model is sometimes attributed to Jørn Utzon. However, the Louis Poulsen version is generally presented as a design developed in close collaboration with the Danish Navy’s building department, whereas the similarly named Søværnspendel associated with Utzon was produced by Nordisk Solar Compagni. That version is also known in a considerably larger format of approximately 43 cm in diameter.

Louis Poulsen lamps were also sold in the United States by Prescolite, as shown in the catalogue material illustrated below. Other companies may likewise have been involved in the distribution of Louis Poulsen models over time.

Henning Klok

Only limited documented information is currently available about the designer Henning Klok. His name is consistently associated with the Doo-Wop or Søværnspendel pendant lamp produced by Louis Poulsen in the 1950s. Beyond this recurring attribution, reliable biographical information and further documented designs remain scarce.

Søværnets Bygningsdistrikt

The Søværnets Bygningsdistrikt is closely associated with the development of the Doo-Wop pendant lamp, which was created in the 1950s in close collaboration with Louis Poulsen. The lamp was used for many years in Danish naval buildings and became widely known as the Søværnspendel.

Historical records also refer to Søværnets Bygningsvæsen, the Danish Navy’s building authority, which existed until 1952. In that year it was merged into the newly formed Forsvarets Bygningstjeneste. The precise administrative relationship between Søværnets Bygningsdistrikt and Søværnets Bygningsvæsen is not always clearly explained in later design sources.