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Object Timeline

-0001

1958

  • Work on this object began.

1983

  • We acquired this object.

1991

2014

2025

  • You found it!

PH Artichoke Hanging Lamp

This is a hanging lamp. It was designed by Poul Henningsen and manufactured by Louis Poulson & Co. A/S. It is dated 1958 and we acquired it in 1983. Its medium is bent sheet copper, cast steel, enameled metal. It is a part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts department.

Poul Henningsen began experimenting with lighting in 1919, creating a range of lamps that directed rather than diffused light, mimicking gas lighting. The Artichoke lamp is arguably his most decorative variation. Its copper “leaves” create a warm red tone and reflect a maximum of light across a room while shielding viewers from glare. Originally designed for use in a Copenhagen restaurant, the Artichoke was commercially produced in a reduced size.

This object was featured in our Object of the Week series in a post titled What Lies Beneath The Artichoke?.

It is credited Museum purchase from General Exhibition Funds.

  • Textile (Italy)
  • foundation warp and weft: cotton; pile warp: silk.
  • Bequest of Erskine Hewitt.
  • 1938-57-1226-a

Our curators have highlighted 12 objects that are related to this one. Here are three of them, selected at random:

  • Porca Miseria! Hanging Lamp
  • glazed molded porcelain adhered to metal, stainless steel; halogen light source.
  • Gift of Peter Norton.
  • 2010-16-1
  •
  • Lavendoux Brooch
  • water jet-cut, surface treated, hand-colored and crafted polycarbonate....
  • The Susan Grant Lewin Collection, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.
  • 2016-34-53

Its dimensions are

H x diam.: 69 x 84 cm (27 3/16 x 33 1/16 in.)

Cite this object as

PH Artichoke Hanging Lamp; Designed by Poul Henningsen (Danish, 1894–1967); Manufactured by Louis Poulsen & Co. A/S (Denmark); Denmark; bent sheet copper, cast steel, enameled metal; H x diam.: 69 x 84 cm (27 3/16 x 33 1/16 in.); Museum purchase from General Exhibition Funds; 1983-16-1

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibitions Making Design and The Cooper-Hewitt Collections: A Design Resource.

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If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-6.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18800369/ |title=PH Artichoke Hanging Lamp |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=20 March 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>