Monumental chandelier, designed by Poul Henningsen, custom made for The Neye
Denmark, 1930
Brass frame and milk glass.Unique. Manufactured by Louis Poulsen.
Marked 'patented' and 'P.h.-3/100'.
Neye, later the Neye Foundation, where the Poul Henningsen chandelier had hung in the boardroom/ tower room since its creation. Neye was founded in 1881 by Johannes Neye when he opened a gift shop on the shopping street Strøget in Copenhagen.
Six arms with shade set size 4/3. Central shade set size 5/4.
This extraordinary monumental chandelier with seven three-shade systems by Poul Henningsen was custom designed for the Danish company Neye in 1930 – it is unique and, thus, an intriguing piece of Scandinavian design history. The piece was skillfully realised by the renowned Danish lighting manufacturer Louis Poulsen.
Poul Henningsen’s lamp designs are characterised by their innovative distribution of light. It was Henningsen’s continuous goal to achieve illumination that sheds warm, soft light without a harsh glare coming directly from the bulb. Henningsen developed his ’system of lamp shades that completely surround the source of light so that no radiating rays can meet the eye directly.’ And in this case, none of the seven! sources of light.
The impressive dimension of the chandelier is achieved through six brass arms with the PH-shade set size 4/3 and one central brass arm carrying the slightly larger PH-shade set size 5/4. All parts are original; prior to its acquisition by Modernity, the chandelier had hung safely in Neye’s boardroom in Copenhagen since its creation.
The chandelier is marked ‘patented’ and ‘P.h.-3/100’ – Henningsen’s famous lamps with a three-shade system became known as PH-lamps and were manufactured by Louis Poulsen, with whom Henningsen built a lifelong working relationship after presenting their famous Paris Lamp at the 1925 International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris (and winning the prize).
The white PH-shades were produced in milk glass in the 1920s and early 1930s but never produced again after that, as they were soon replaced by cased glass. The milk glass shades have a solid white colour, as opposed to cased glass, which consists of two or sometimes three different layers of glass. The PH-shades in milk glass, such as the ones on this chandelier, are generally the most coveted.
Poul Henningsen (1894 - 1967) was a Danish author, critic, architect, and acclaimed designer. He is frequently referred to simply as ’PH’ and is most associated with his design of the PH-lamp series. Henningsen’s unique understanding of the relationship between light structures, shadows, glare, and colour reproduction is unparalleled in Scandinavian design history.
H: 81 cm / 32"
Diameter: 130 cm / 4' 3 1/4"
* SOLD *
