Plissée Pendant vs Floor Lamp: Over the Table or Beside the Chair

Sebastian Herkner's Plissée comes in two forms that share one glass shade idea and very little else in how they sit in a room. This comparison looks at the Plissée Pendant Lamp hung over a table and the Plissée Floor Lamp standing beside a chair, and at which one suits the space you actually have.

One shade, two positions in the room

Both lamps are built around the same trick. What reads from across the room as a pleated lampshade of paper or fabric is a hand-blown shade of white, satin-finished opal glass, its folds formed while the glass is still hot. Herkner, born in Bad Mergentheim in 1981 and based in Offenbach am Main, has made this kind of material illusion his signature since the Bell Table he created for ClassiCon, which rests a metal top on a glass base. The Plissée carries the idea into light, with a nod to the Japanese paper lanterns that Isamu Noguchi reworked in his Akari series.

The glass is paired with a slim aluminium frame, colour-lacquered in black, bronze or brass. The same three finishes are offered on both versions, so a pendant over the dining table and a floor lamp in the living room can be matched exactly if you want the family to read as one.

The real difference is height. The pendant hangs in the air above a surface; the floor lamp stands at 92 cm, low enough that its glow sits at the level of a seated person rather than above them. That single fact decides most of what follows.

Plissée Pendant vs Plissée Floor Lamp at a glance

The pendant: a lantern over the table

The Plissée Pendant has a double character that the floor lamp does not. The glass body gives off an even ambient glow, while the open bottom lets a more focused beam fall straight down. Over a dining table or kitchen counter, that means one fixture does two jobs: the room gets a soft wash of light, and the table surface gets enough direct light to eat, cook or read by.

It is also the larger shade of the two. Its first two figures, 40 x 51 cm, compare with 31 x 40 cm for the floor version, and the 400 cm dimension includes the suspension. Hung above a table, that volume reads as a pleated balloon floating in the room, which is exactly the effect Herkner was after. The pendant's glass is mouth-blown by Italian artisans, and the metal ring in black, bronze or brass gives the airy form a precise, jewellery-like edge.

Setting the height is the one decision that needs care. Too high and the beam spreads thinly across the table; too low and the shade blocks the view between people sitting opposite each other. Our guide on how high to hang a pendant over a dining table was written for PH lamps, but the same principles apply to a glass shade of this size.

Beyond the dining room, the pendant works as a quiet lantern in a bedroom or hallway, where its visual lightness suits compact rooms. One practical point: the material specification lists the same dimmable push switch for both versions, and a switch in the top of a frame is naturally within reach on a floor lamp. For a pendant, plan how you will switch it in the room before you settle on a position.

The floor lamp: light at the height of a chair

At 92 cm, the Plissée Floor Lamp is low for a floor lamp, and that is its point. It does not throw light down from above the way a standard reading lamp does. Instead the whole glass shade glows along its height, so the lamp behaves as much like an ambient sculpture as a task light. Placed next to an armchair, it lights the space around the person sitting there, rather than a page held under a spot.

The details are built for daily use at arm's length. The push switch sits in the top of the frame, where your hand falls naturally when you are seated beside it, and it is variably dimmable with a memory function, so the lamp returns to the level you last chose. Black felt gliders underneath protect the floor when you move it. With a footprint defined by its 31 x 40 cm dimensions, it needs little floor area, which makes it easy to fit into a living-room corner or beside a bed.

In the evening, this is the version that takes over from harsh overhead light. Dimmed low, the opal glass shows its pleats most clearly, and the room gets warmth without a ceiling fixture drawing attention to itself.

Which Plissée should you choose?

Start with the surface or seat you want to light. If there is a table that people gather around, choose the pendant. Its downward beam gives you usable light on the tabletop and its glow carries through the room, so it can be the main light in a dining area or kitchen. It suits rooms where floor space is already taken by chairs and a table, because it uses none.

If the question is a chair, a sofa or a bed, choose the floor lamp. It adds a second layer of light at eye level when seated, which is what makes a room feel comfortable after dark. It needs a socket nearby and a little floor space, but it can be moved as the furniture changes, which a pendant cannot.

Many homes end up with both. Because the frame finishes match, a brass pendant over the table and a brass floor lamp beside the sofa read as one family in an open-plan room, with the table lit from above and the seating area lit from the side. Black is the most graphic of the three finishes against white walls; bronze and brass warm the glass and sit well with wood and stone.

Living with hand-blown glass

Because each shade is blown and finished by hand, two Plissée shades of the same model can show slight variation, which is a property of the material rather than a fault. The satin finish diffuses the light source so you see a soft, even surface instead of a bright point, and the pleats catch light along every edge. Dust the glass gently and treat it as the handmade object it is.

Both versions come from ClassiCon, founded in Munich in 1990 and named for the two halves of its catalogue, classic and contemporary. It holds the rights to Eileen Gray's furniture and commissions new work from designers such as Herkner. See the full ClassiCon collection to place the Plissée alongside the Bell Table and the rest of the range.