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Louis Poulsen PH 5 Table Lamp – 1960s Catalogue Picture
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Many thanks to Frank from nullviernull raum+kommunikation for the pictures. You can find his shop over here on Pamono.
Louis Poulsen PH 5 Table Lamp
Materials: Round chrome base & rods. Layered aluminium mushroom lampshade. Round chrome lid on top. Some metal & chrome parts. Bakelite E27 socket.
Height: 60,5 cm / 23.81”
Width: ∅ 45 cm / 17.71”
Base: ∅ 21,5 cm / 8.46”
Electricity: 1 bulb E27, 1 x 100 watt maximum, 110/220 volt.
Any type of light bulb can be used, not a specific one preferred.
Period: 1950s, 1960s – Mid-Century Modern.
Designer: Poul Henningsen around 1957.
Manufacturer: Louis Poulsen & Co A/S, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Other versions: This Louis Poulsen PH 5 table lamp exists in several colours. It was also made in a brass version.
Poul Henningsen
Poul Henningsen was born on 9 September 1894 in Denmark, in the Copenhagen area. He studied at the Technical School at Frederiksberg from 1911 to 1914, and later at the Technical College in Copenhagen until 1917. Although he trained as an architect, he never graduated, and instead developed into a remarkably versatile designer, writer and cultural critic.
Throughout his life, Henningsen devoted himself to the study of light and its effect on everyday life. His work focused on creating lamps that produced comfortable, glare-free illumination through the careful control of light distribution, reflection and shielding. He is widely regarded as one of the great pioneers of modern lighting design.
His self-titled PH series became his most famous body of work. Among his best-known designs are the PH Artichoke and the PH 5, both introduced in 1958. The PH 5 was designed in response to the constantly changing shapes and sizes of incandescent bulbs, with the aim of creating a lamp that would provide pleasant, glare-free light regardless of the light source.
Henningsen was also a highly influential cultural figure in Denmark. During the 1920s he achieved his literary breakthrough, and he later became known for the politically engaged PH revues of 1929–1932. In addition to lighting, he also designed the celebrated PH Grand Piano in 1930, a radical and elegant reinterpretation of the traditional grand piano.
Before and during the Second World War, Henningsen was active as an anti-fascist voice. During the German occupation he eventually fled to Sweden, where he continued to support the resistance through coded and camouflaged writings. After the war he increasingly distanced himself from communist circles as his scepticism towards the Soviet Union grew. In 1963 he became a member of the Danish Academy. Poul Henningsen died on 31 January 1967.
Louis Poulsen
Louis Poulsen is a Danish lighting manufacturer with roots going back to 1874, when Ludvig R. Poulsen founded a business in Copenhagen. Originally a trading company, the firm gradually shifted towards electrical supplies and lighting as electricity became more widely used. In 1896 Ludvig’s nephew Louis Poulsen joined the company, and after Ludvig’s death in 1906 Louis continued the business. In 1914Sophus Kaastrup-Olsen became a partner, and the company name changed to Louis Poulsen & Co.
A decisive turning point came in 1924, when Poul Henningsen began his long collaboration with the company. His scientific approach to glare-free lighting and reflective multi-shade systems became central to the identity of Louis Poulsen and strongly influenced modern lighting design. Since then, the company has continued to combine functional light, architectural clarity and carefully considered form, following the idea that a lamp should not merely be an object, but a tool to shape light.
Over the decades, Louis Poulsen has produced both iconic domestic lighting and large-scale architectural lighting for public and professional spaces. The company remains one of the best-known names in Danish lighting design, with a strong emphasis on the quality, direction and atmosphere of light.
Designers
The designer most closely associated with Louis Poulsen is Poul Henningsen (PH). Other major names linked to the company include Arne Jacobsen, Verner Panton, Vilhelm Lauritzen and Vilhelm Wohlert.
Over time, Louis Poulsen also collaborated with a wide range of designers, architects and studios, including Alfred Homann, Andreas Hansen, Eila & John Meiling, Henning Klok, Axel Wedel Madsen, Jørgen Bo, Ole Valdemar Kjær, Jens Møller-Jensen and Bent Gantzel-Boysen.
Among later and more recent collaborations are Louise Campbell, Øivind Slaatto, Christian Flindt, Clara von Zweigbergk, nendo (Oki Sato), Olafur Eliasson, GamFratesi, Anne Boysen, Peter Bysted, Anu Moser, Shoichi Uchiyama, Gabriel Tan and Finn Juhl.
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Louis Poulsen PH 5 Table Lamp – Company Labels
