Poul Henningsen drew the piano lamp in 1931, in the early years of a turn towards music that sat alongside his work on light. He designed it for pianists, and the shape shows it: a long curved stem carries the shade out over the keys, and a brass ball on a loop behind balances the weight so the head stays where it is put. Louis Poulsen stopped making it in the late 1930s, and it has not been in production since. The lamp is part of the PH range, the family of layered-shade lights that Henningsen developed around the idea that a shade should shape light, not just cover a bulb.
The 2026 edition scales the design down so that it works on a desk, a bedside table or a windowsill as readily as on a piano. The frame is aged brass, brushed with fine hairlines and lacquered to hold its patina. The three stacked shades are mouth-blown from four layers of glass in a colour the maker calls Dusty Terracotta, glossy on the outside and sandblasted on the inside. They follow the principles of Henningsen's System PH, which aims for precise, glare-free light rather than a bright bulb on show.
The numbers are modest. The lamp measures 41.7cm across and 36.4cm high, with a 16cm shade on a 15.3cm base. A swivel joint tilts the head 45 degrees backwards and 25 forwards, and the counterweight does the rest. It takes a single G9 bulb, which is not supplied, and comes with a 2.6m dark brown textile cord and a through-switch in the housing, engraved with the PH initials. The electrical rating is IP20, Class II.
This is the latest in a yearly run. Louis Poulsen has released a limited-edition reissue every year since 2014, and this one was sold from 1 October to 31 December 2026, at selected stores and on its own site. The UK listing at Innes shows £1,180, and also shows the lamp as made to order with delivery expected in late March 2027, so the sales window and the delivery date are not the same thing. That gap, and the price for a lamp of this size, are the practical objections. Against them is an unusual object: a drawing from 1931, finally back on a table, with its signature ball of brass still hanging off the back.
- A 1931 Henningsen design that has been out of production since the late 1930s
- Adjustable head with a 45 degree backward and 25 degree forward tilt, balanced by a brass counterweight
- Mouth-blown four-layer glass shades in Dusty Terracotta, on a lacquered aged-brass frame
- Sold only between 1 October and 31 December 2026, with the UK retailer listing delivery in late March 2027
- The bulb is not included, and the maker's wattage is not stated on the retailer page
The verdict
A rare reissue with a real story and an unusual shape, priced and timed like the collector's piece it is.
Best forCollectors of Danish design and anyone wanting a small, characterful lamp for a desk or piano.
Photographs courtesy of Louis Poulsen
