Louis Poulsen Reissues Poul Henningsen's Clef-Shaped 1931 'PH Piano' Lamp

Louis Poulsen will sell a limited-edition reissue of Poul Henningsen's 1931 'PH Piano' lamp from 1 October to 31 December 2026, bringing back a design that has not been manufactured since the late 1930s.

The 'PH 1/1 Piano' table lamp takes its character from music. Its swirling stem draws on the flag of musical notes and the twirl of treble clefs — a gesture strong enough to steal attention from the brand's famous tiered glass pendant.

"The original 1931 design of the 'PH Piano' lamp has been respectfully scaled down and refined to offer greater versatility for contemporary living, functioning not just as a piano lamp but as a table lamp as well," says Monique Faber, chief design officer at Louis Poulsen.

The reissue belongs to an annual programme the Danish lighting brand launched in 2014 to mark the 120th anniversary of Henningsen's birth. Previous highly collectable editions have included untreated copper lamps and amber-coloured pendants.

An architect who loved jazz

Henningsen worked as an architect, designer and critic, often signing his essays with his initials. Those letters — the hallmark of the limited-edition pieces — appear in gold at the base of this lamp.

He was also a composer, songwriter and jazz aficionado. In the early 1930s he turned his attention to music, producing both the original 'PH Piano' lamp and the PH Grand Piano, whose transparent acrylic lid reveals the instrument's strings.

Aged brass and dusty terracotta glass

The lamp's flexible curved stem allows precise adjustment of the lighting direction. A round, notehead-shaped element punctuates the stem and functions as a counterweight, keeping the lamp stable while the user plays.

Louis Poulsen crafts the frame in aged brass with fine hairlines, lacquered to preserve the patina, and pairs it with a dark brown fabric cord.

The three-shade set — the 'PH 1/1', the smallest in the PH system — uses four-layered, mouth-blown opal glass in a dusty terracotta hue. "Each shade is finished with a glossy exterior, while the inner surface is sand-blasted to a matte white finish. This combination of layers and finishes produces a beautifully soft, diffused light, ensuring exceptional visual comfort in any setting," says the Louis Poulsen team.

The earthy glass tone reinforces the organic expression of the heritage design.

The 1925 system behind the glow

The PH lamp system dates to 1925, when Henningsen, a lifelong Louis Poulsen collaborator, designed the first three-shade luminaire. The system distributes light in gentle layers according to the logarithmic spiral — a natural curve also found in seashells and plants.

The top shade handles the brightest light, the middle shade redirects and softens it, and the bottom shade shields the eyes from glare. The result, according to the brand, is a glare-free light that feels as natural as daylight and as warm as candlelight.

The 'PH 1/1 Piano' limited edition 2026 will be available exclusively at selected stores and at louispoulsen.com from 1 October to 31 December 2026. After that, the clef-shaped design returns to the archive for a second time.