Verner Panton Panthella Floor Lamp

Materials: White enamelled metal base and rod. White round acrylic mushroom lampshade. Bakelite E27 socket.

Height: 128,5 cm / 50.59”

Width: ∅ 50 cm / 19.68”

Base: ∅ 34,5 cm  / 13.58”

Electricity: 1 bulb E27, 1 x 60 watt maximum, 110/220 volt.
Any type of light bulb can be used, not a specific one preferred.

Period: 1970s – Mid-Century Modern.

Designer: Verner Panton (1926-1998) in 1971.

Manufacturer: Louis Poulsen & Co A/S, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Other versions: This Verner Panton Panthella floor lamp is a first edition. It has the switch build-in in the base. Later versions (until today) have the switch on the cord and are 130,5 cm (51.37”) high. Also made as a table lamp (60 cm high, 23.62”) and made in a chromed version and in many colours during the years. And also made in different materials: injection-molded acrylic lampshade, injection molded ABS base and metal stand. Beware for fake ones, the Louis Poulsen label is always present. For a while they were also produced by Vitra, according to the Verner Panton website.

The Panthella table and floor lamp received an iF Design Award in 1972.

Verner Panton

Verner Panton was born on 13 February 1926 in Gamtofte, Denmark and is considered as one of the most influential 20th-century furniture and interior designers.  He studied architecture at the Royal Art Academy in Copenhagen, Denmark and in his last year in 1950 he started to work for Arne Jacobsen.

From 1953 until 1955 he studied in various European countries and in 1955 he started his own business. Verner Panton received numerous awards for his designs. He died in Copenhagen on 5 September 1998.

This floor lamp was designed in 1971, often said 1970, but those are false assumptions.

Louis Poulsen

Louis Poulsen & CO A/S is a Danish lighting manufacturer that was founded in 1874 by Ludvig R. Poulsen as a wine importing business. 4 years later the firm closed down. However, in 1892 Ludvig Poulsen opened his second business, this time selling tools and electrical supplies.

Two years later in 1896 his nephew Louis Poulsen started to work for the company. After the dead of Ludvig in 1906, Louis takes over the business.
In 1911 Sophus Kaastrup-Olsen becomes a partner in the firm and the name changes in Louis Poulsen & Co A/S. Six years later Sophus Kaastrup-Olsen becomes the sole owner of the company.

The best known designers that worked for Louis Poulsen are Poul Henningsen, Arne Jacobsen, Verner Panton, Vilhelm Lauritzen, Shoichi Uchiyama and many others.

This floor lamp and  the table lamp are described in 1000 Lights Volume 2, 1960 to present, page 240 and 241, written by Charlotte and Peter Fiell and published by Taschen in 2005.

Also published in La Cote Du Design edition 2010-2011 on page 699, written by Jean-Michel Homo and published by Retro Design Editions, France.

Acrylic: often named by its commercial name: Perspex, Plexiglas, Crylux, Acrylite, Lucite, is a thermoplastic.