Poul Henningsen ceiling lamp

Rare PH 5/4 pendant designed by Poul Henningsen and manufactured by Louis Poulsen in Denmark during the 1930s. This version combines a patinated copper top shade with single-layer opaline glass middle and lower shades, a browned brass bayonet socket housing and a Bakelite canopy.

The lamp is constructed around Henningsen’s multi-shade lighting system, developed to control the distribution of electric light and reduce direct glare. The broad upper shade forms a shallow circular dome in copper with a narrow rolled perimeter. Suspended beneath it is a white opaline glass assembly consisting of a wide, gently curved middle shade and a smaller cylindrical lower element. The concentric arrangement shields the bulb from normal viewing angles while distributing light across the curved surfaces. Early PH 5/4 examples were already being produced by Louis Poulsen by the late 1920s, with the design subsequently manufactured in several combinations of metal and glass.

The material contrast is particularly evident in this example. The copper has developed a reddish-brown surface with darker brown areas, spotting and oxidation, while the suspension housing has an almost black-brown appearance. The opaline glass remains white when unlit and changes to a warm cream and amber tone when illuminated. Viewed from below, the lamp is strongly concentric: the 50 cm copper reflector surrounds the smaller circular glass shades and central light source. The interior of the copper shade retains visible tonal variation and age-related surface marks.

Poul Henningsen (1894–1967) developed his PH lighting system during the 1920s in collaboration with Louis Poulsen. His approach treated the shade geometry as an optical system rather than simply as decoration, using overlapping curved reflectors to obscure the direct light source and control reflected illumination. The PH system was presented internationally during the 1920s, and the PH 5/4 belongs to this early family of proportional multi-shade lamps.

Louis Poulsen’s collaboration with Henningsen began in the 1920s and became central to the company’s development as a Danish lighting manufacturer. Period PH lamps were produced in numerous material configurations according to their intended light distribution, including versions entirely in metal and examples combining metal upper reflectors with opaline glass lower shades.

The pendant measures 50 cm in diameter and 35 cm in height up to the cord, corresponding to approximately 19.7 inches in diameter and 13.8 inches in height. The suspension cord is covered in brown textile, visually continuing the warm copper and brown tones of the metal components.

The lamp is in vintage condition with signs of use and an established patina to the copper and metal fittings. Surface oxidation, spotting, tonal variation and minor scratches are visible on the copper reflector. The bottom opaline glass shade has a starting hairline crack, which should be noted as part of the condition.