PH 3½-3 Metal Pendant

Launched for Poul Henningsen's 120th birthday, the PH 3½-3 pendant revives his original late-1920s/1930s designs. Using the iconic three-shade system, it comes in green, yellow, red and white with a silk-matte brown-copper housing; the shades, pressed at Louis Poulsen's Vejen factory, have white rolled edges for added symmetry — functional and decorative, lit or unlit.

Poul Henningsen (1894–1967) created his three-shade System PH with Louis Poulsen in 1926, after winning a gold medal at the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. Each shade is positioned on a logarithmic spiral with the light source at its focal point, so the angle of reflection remains constant and the bulb stays hidden from view — the foundation of the famous glare-free PH light. In the late 1920s and 1930s the system was produced in many coloured-metal variants that later disappeared from the catalogue; this PH 3½-3 revival brings those historical colourways back, with shades pressed at Louis Poulsen's own factory in Vejen, Denmark, and finished with the characteristic white rolled edges that give the lamp its crisp, graphic profile.

The metal shades direct all light downward, making the PH 3½-3 a natural choice above a dining table, kitchen island or work desk — hung around 50–60 cm above the surface, it lights the tabletop generously while keeping sightlines free of glare. The four colourways let it play different roles: white recedes elegantly into bright Scandinavian rooms, while green, yellow or red turns the pendant into the focal point of a compact apartment where wall space for art is scarce. Browse more designer pendant lamps, explore the Louis Poulsen collection, or read our PH pendant buying guide.

Light source: E27 (E26 compatible), 1 bulb, max 75 W; dimmable with a dimmable bulb. IP20, indoor. Bulb not included — we recommend an E27 LED (1.6–7.5 W, 806 lm), 2700 K.