Danish Luxury

Design Lighting Louis Poulsen

PH Artichoke

Poul Henningsen's pendant of 1958, 72 metal leaves that hide the bulb from every angle, made by Louis Poulsen.

Designed by
Poul Henningsen
First made
1958

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A white PH Artichoke with chrome details
A white PH Artichoke with chrome details
A copper PH Artichoke being put together leaf by leaf in the workshop
A copper PH Artichoke being put together leaf by leaf in the workshop

Pictures © Louis Poulsen, from louispoulsen.com.

Why it is renowned

The PH Artichoke is known well beyond Denmark for the way its leaves hide the light source while letting a soft glow through.1 Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York bought one in 1983 and has shown it in its exhibition Making Design.1 The Victoria and Albert Museum in London holds an Artichoke lamp made in Copenhagen by Louis Poulsen in its metalwork collection.2

The story

In 1958 Poul Henningsen designed the PH Artichoke for the Langelinie Pavilion, a restaurant in Copenhagen.31 Its 72 leaves are arranged so that the bulb cannot be seen from any angle;3 the 1958 lamp Cooper Hewitt holds has leaves of copper.1 Louis Poulsen makes it, and the lamps still hang in the Langelinie Pavilion.31

  • PH 5, by the same designer, also from 1958
Sources
  1. What Lies Beneath The Artichoke?, Cooper Hewitt. cooperhewitt.org, read 28 September 2026.
  2. V&A collections search: Artichoke Lamp. api.vam.ac.uk, read 28 September 2026.
  3. PH Artichoke, Louis Poulsen. louispoulsen.com, read 17 October 2026.

Checked 17 October 2026, against the maker's own pages.