Last week I revealed our new Muswell Hill Office will feature Renee Macintosh furniture but have you noticed the stylish Poul Hennigsen lights in our East Finchley branch? Our manager, Amanda Walker, is a fan of vintage furniture so is very happy to be working in the light of this fabulous design, the PH5 pendant, a great example of 1950s chic manufactured by the celebrated Louis Poulsen Company. Why the PH5? – simple PH for Poul Hennigsen, and 5 for 50 cms.
Louis Poulsen is a Danish Company started in 1874 by Ludvig R. Poulsen as a wine importing business under the name Kjøbenhavns direkte Vin-Import-Kompagni. The firm closed in 1878 but Ludvig changed to dealing in tools and electrical goods and employed his nephew Louis in 1896. By the 1920s the company had realised the value of good design and employed Hennigsen who won them a Gold medal in 1925 at the international decorative arts fair in Paris, the called “Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs & Industriels Modernes”. The next year Louis Poulsen begins marketing light fittings and its first lighting catalog is published with descriptions in Danish, German, English and French. Hennigsen was responsible for a slew of distinctive designs including the famous ‘artichoke’ light which looks very much like its namesake. If you come across a Hennigsen luminaire – please don’t throw it in the recycling, you’ve found a piece of modern design history.
