We all know of this lamp as the Artichoke Lamp but did you know its original Danish name translates more closely to Pinecone Lamp?

It has been a favorite of mine for years. There are less expensive options out there that are similar such as the Norm 69 as shown in the 2nd photo. All the other images are the PH Artichoke.

As a Copenhagener Poul Henningsen often drove through the city and was shock by what he saw: "When, in the evening, from the top of a tram car, you look into all the homes on the first floor, you shudder at how dismal people's homes are. Furniture, style carpets, everything in the home is unimportant compared to the positioning of the lighting. It doesn't cost money to light a room correctly, but it does require culture."

"It has always been the idea that the PH-lamp should be the lamp for the home. Due to its qualities and its modern appearance it had to be accepted first in offices and public buildings, but it is constructed with the most difficult and noble task in mind: lighting in the home. The aim is to beautify the home and the who live there, to make the evening restful and relaxing."

Poul Henningsen's lamp shades are made of separate elements, shaped and assembled in such a way that they cover the bulb and direct the light down upon the table without the rays being reflected more than once. Beside this they give a general light in the room, so that the contrast between the illumination of the walls and table is not to sharp. Within the lamp shade itself the light is distributed so as to lessen the intensity towards the outer edge of each separate element. In this way Henningsen has avoided the abrupt transition from light to darkness which we find, for example, with an ordinary spherical pendant shade in opal glass. To bring the rather harsh white light towards the red end of the spectrum, Henningsen has given the inner side of one element of the shade a red color.

Text excerpted from Scandinaviandesign.com

Images 1 Pierre—Jean Verger, 2 via Apartment Therapy, 3 via Design*Sponge, 4 Studio Ilse, 5 Domino, 6 via Daily Icon, 7 Bobo Olsson via Desire to Inspire, 8 pointclickhome,9 via Apent Hus, 10 via This is Glamorous

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