PH Septima from Louis Poulsen

The PH Septima is regarded as one of Poul Henningsen’s most refined pendants. When exhibited for the first time as a prototype at the Danish Museum of Decorative Art (now Designmuseum Danmark) in 1928, the poetic piece was publically applauded.

Based on the PH three-shade system, the glass crown has four extra shades inserted between the three basic shades - all seven produced in very delicate, but also strong, Italian borosilicate glass. The shades made of clear glass are treated to appear with alternate clear and frosted fields and are positioned so the frosted fields cover the clear fields underneath, allowing the shades to spread the light in a more diffused manner, while maintaining glare-free, downward directed light distribution. In addition, a neat round glass cup is placed at the top in order to prevent dust etc. from falling into the lamp.

In 1931, a smaller PH Septima 4 was launched based on shade sizes from the PH 4/4 lamp, where the original PH Septima 5 is based on shade sizes from the PH 5/5. During the development of the PH Septima, Henningsen designed a metal version as well, but it never reached production. The drawings however formed the basis for the development of the PH Artichoke, designed around three decades later for the Langelinie Pavilion in Copenhagen. In the 40s, however, the esteemed PH Septima went out of production together with numerous other lamps at the time, due to the shortage of raw materials.

In 2020, Louis Poulsen brings back Poul Henningsen’s sophisticated seven-shade glass crown, based on the PH Septima 5 with optimized suspension and enhanced glass for better endurance and stability.

The seven-shade glass crown emits a glare-free, downward directed light, while radiating a pleasantly delicate glow. From shade to shade, frosted glass fields alternately cover the clear ones, thus diffusing the light even more softly.