PH Contrast pendant, Poul Henningsen for Louis Poulsen 1958-1962
ONLY ONE LEFT
Poul Henningsen worked on his metal layed lamps for decades. Calculating the angles in which the light is reflected, while preventing the eye from direct exposure to it. The PH Contrast is perhaps his most technical design. Perhaps too technical, because it was too costly to make and Louis Poulsen had to take it out of production. But the PH Contrast is a masterpiece of lighting design in which function and aesthetics are joined in perfect unity.
Each layer is partly lacquered white for a soft even glow, the other part is cromed to optimize the reflection towards the white parts. The inside is lacquered orange to give the light warmth, but there is a trick to these lamps: You can pull the metal handle on top to change the hight of the lightsource. When you do this, the light gets a blue-ish hue from a hidden layer inside. It serves as a mechanical dimmer, letting you adjust the light to change the atmosphere.
This is a beautiful and rare lamp still in an excellent vintage condition.
