The name Poul Henningsen is synonymous with the best and most innovative modern Scandinavian lamps and other lighting. The Danish designer created a signature vocabulary of fixtures with tiered and layered shades in sculptural arrangements that are at once naturalistic and geometric.
Henningsen grew up in a town on the outskirts of Copenhagen and studied architecture at the Technical University of Denmark. He would become a noted art critic, journalist and screenwriter, but his first love was lighting design.
Henningsen’s childhood home was illuminated by oil lamps. When his family switched to electrified lighting, he was alarmed and repelled by the harsh glare cast by an incandescent bulb, and in his late teens he began conducting quasi-scientific experiments to measure which materials and methods best diffused or reflected light to give it a warm brightness. His work came to the attention of the lighting-fixtures firm Louis Poulsen, which sponsored the development of a prototype lamp. The design won a gold medal at the 1925 Paris Expositions Internationales des Arts Decóratifs et Industriels Modernes — from which the term Art Deco derives. The lamp, whose three-part shade is said to be inspired by the arrangement of a dinner plate atop a soup bowl atop a teacup, became the basis for Henningsen’s most successful design, the PH 4/3 desk lamp.
All told, Henningsen would design some 100 lighting fixtures in his career. Some of his most notable creations are hanging lamps, which include the Septima (1929), a pendant composed of seven graduated frosted-glass layers; the Spiral (1942), made of a single ribbon of enameled aluminum; and the Artichoke lamp (1958), whose 70 glass or metal fins in a staggered and graduated arrangement on a central steel frame resemble those of its namesake. The last is likely Henningsen’s masterwork and an icon of mid-20th-century design. Like all Henningsen lighting designs, it is striking, sculptural and — thanks to his insistence on the primacy of the quality of the light cast — superbly functional.
Find a collection of authentic Poul Henningsen table lamps, floor lamps and other lighting on 1stDibs.
Ph Stool, Wood Legs, Mahogany Veneer, Red Lamb Leather on Panels and Seat
By Poul Henningsen
Located in Copenhagen, DK
The PH Stool is perfectly proportioned to match the PH Dressing Table or stand-alone as a functional sculpture. The PH Stool is available in mahogany, bla...
Leather, Mahogany
PH Stool, wood legs, black oak veneer, extreme walnut leather seat
By Poul Henningsen
Located in Copenhagen, DK
The PH Stool is perfectly proportioned to match the PH Dressing Table or stand-alone as a functional sculpture. The PH Stool is available in mahogany, bla...
Leather, Oak
Ph Stool, Wood Legs, Black Oak Veneer, Extreme Black Leather Seat
By Poul Henningsen
Located in Copenhagen, DK
The PH Stool is perfectly proportioned to match the PH Dressing Table or stand-alone as a functional sculpture. The PH Stool is available in mahogany, bla...
Leather, Oak
PH Stool, Brass Legs, Natural Oak Veneer, Extreme Walnut Leather Seat
By Poul Henningsen
Located in Copenhagen, DK
The PH Stool is perfectly proportioned to match the PH Dressing Table or stand-alone as a functional sculpture. The PH Stool is available in mahogany, bla...
Leather, Oak
PH Stool, Brass Legs, Mahogany Veneer, Red Lamb Leather on Panels and Seat
By Poul Henningsen
Located in Copenhagen, DK
The PH stool is perfectly proportioned to match the PH dressing table or stand-alone as a functional sculpture. The PH stool is available in maho...
Leather, Mahogany
PH Stool, wood legs, natural oak veneer, extreme black leather seat
By Poul Henningsen
Located in Copenhagen, DK
The PH Stool is perfectly proportioned to match the PH Dressing Table or stand-alone as a functional sculpture. The PH Stool is available in mahogany, bla...
Leather, Oak
PH Stool, Brass Legs, Natural Oak Veneer, Extreme Black Leather Seat
By Poul Henningsen
Located in Copenhagen, DK
The PH stool is perfectly proportioned to match the PH dressing table or stand-alone as a functional sculpture. The PH stool is available in mahogany, blac...
Leather, Oak
PH Stool, Brass Legs, Black Oak Veneer, Extreme Walnut Leather Seat
By Poul Henningsen
Located in Copenhagen, DK
The PH stool is perfectly proportioned to match the PH dressing table or stand-alone as a functional sculpture. The PH stool is available in mahogany, bla...
Leather, Oak
Ph Stool, Brass Legs, Black Oak Veneer, Extreme Black Leather Seat
By Poul Henningsen
Located in Copenhagen, DK
The PH Stool is perfectly proportioned to match the PH Dressing Table or stand-alone as a functional sculpture. The PH Stool is available in mahogany, bla...
Leather, Oak
PH Stool, wood legs, natural oak veneer, extreme walnut leather seat
By Poul Henningsen
Located in Copenhagen, DK
The PH Stool is perfectly proportioned to match the PH Dressing Table or stand-alone as a functional sculpture. The PH Stool is available in mahogany, bla...
Oak, Leather
William Sheppee Folding Iron and Leather Stool
Located in St.Petersburg, FL
Unusual folding foot stool by William Sheppee. Heavy wrought iron and patinated brown saddle leather.
Wrought Iron
Beachcomber Milking Stool in Oiled Walnut
By Greg Mitchell
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The beachcomber milking stool is our take on a Classic, simple form. The hand shaped seat is sculpted for comfort, and the legs are shaved wi...
Oak, Walnut
Wood Tripod Heart Stool, 1950s France
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Unique heart tripod stool made in France, circa 1950s. Substantial and chunky heart shaped seat with three sturdy club legs with faceted sides. Perfe...
Wood
$600
H 19.69 in W 14.57 in D 14.57 in
Tall Stool in Oak, Reupholstered in Lambswool, Danish Cabinetmaker, 1950s
By Flemming Lassen, Viggo Boesen
Located in Odense, DK
Danish modern tall stool in oak with curly legs, reupholstered seat in long haired lambswool. Made by a Danish Cabinetmaker in circa 1950s. A great object for the Scandinavian int...
Wool, Oak
Mid-Century Red Velvet Vintage Stool, Europe, 1960s
Located in 05-080 Hornowek, PL
Stool from the turn of the 1960s and 1970s. Beautiful red velvet upholstery. The stool consists of an upholstered part, a seat and wooden legs narrowing downwards, characteristic of the 1960s style. We can prepare this pair also in another color of fabric...
Velvet
Pair of Paul McCobb Brass Stools Silver Shagreen Leather
By Paul McCobb
Located in Westport, CT
Pair of Paul McCobb brass stools, shagreen silver leather, with brass criss-cross bases, adjustable feet.
Brass
Chunky Wood Tripod Stool, 1960s France
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Tripod stool made in France, circa 1970s with a light wood with a raw finish. Great minimalist design. Functional stool. Perfect for books or objects as well. Seat diameter 13".
Wood
$5,600 / set
H 9.5 in W 12 in D 16 in
Pair of English Mahogany Medallion Upholstered Foot Stools on Ball Feet, C. 1820
Located in Charleston, SC
Pair of English mahogany scrolled medallion upholstered foot stools resting on the original ball feet. Stools are upholstered in white muslin. Early 19th Century
Muslin, Mahogany
Cubic Art Deco Stool, Walnut Veneer, France, circa 1930
Located in Regensburg, DE
Beautiful original Art Deco stool from France about 1930. Walnut veneered and polished. Covered with anthracite fabric and border finishing. Dimensions: H 38 cm x W 36 cm x D 37 cm.
Fabric, Walnut
Set of Two Blue and Red Velvet 20th Century Stools, 1960s
Located in 05-080 Hornowek, PL
Stools from the turn of the 1960s and 1970s. Beautiful velour upholstery in 2 different colors. The stools consists of an upholstered part, a sea...
Velvet, Wood
High Natural Oak DOM Stool by Marcos Zanuso Jr
Located in Geneve, CH
High natural oak DOM stool by Marcos Zanuso Jr Materials: High stool, structure, and seat in solid oak, natural varnished or black stained. Technique: Lacquered metal. Natural or sta...
Oak
Chene Wood Stool in Oak, Maple or Ash
By Atelier de Troupe
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Measures: W 13in (33cm) x D 13in (33cm) x H 17in (43cm). Available in Bleached Ash, Ebonized Ash, Natural Waxed Oak, Fumed Oak, or Oxidized Oak. Also available in Walnut upon reques...
Wood