Louis Poulsen is now launching a mini-version of the iconic Panthella lamp with a diameter
of 250mm – scaled down from the standard 400mm size. Panthella MINI features painted
metal shades and will be available in eight eye-catching colours from Verner Panton’s own
colour spectrum: yellow, orange, mauve, red, pink, blue and two shades of green. Versions
in white, black and opal acrylic will also be on sale.
The colours are drawn from the last project Verner Panton was working on before his death
in 1998: ‘Lyset og Farven’ (‘Light and Colour’) exhibition hosted at Trapholt Museum of
Modern Art in Kolding, Denmark, which took the form of a complete installation comprising
eight rooms in different colours, where the furniture, light fittings and fabrics, created by
Verner Panton over a period of 50 years, were framed in a holistic presentation of colours
and light. Colour and imagination were two key elements in the world of Verner Panton,
and Louis Poulsen has chosen the new colours for the Panthella MINI from the spectrum that
Verner Panton himself had selected for the remarkable universe that was ‘Lyset og Farven’.
Panton-fever still going strong
“Verner Panton originally developed the Panthella lamp in partnership with Louis Poulsen in
1971. He originally wanted to have Panthella launched with a metal shade. In other words,
the Panthella MINI is a world first, based on Verner Panton’s original drawings,” relates
Rasmus Markholt, Design Manager at Louis Poulsen.
While most other Danish architects and designers in the 1950s and 1960s were working with
wood and other natural materials, Verner Panton’s predilection for new materials saw him
develop into a specialist in steel, plastic, Plexiglas and fibreglass. His design work involving
synthetic materials was trail-blazing, and he was a pioneer in the field of designs using circles
and rounded shapes before they became mainstream style under the banner of ‘organic
design’. According to Rasmus Markholt, this is one of the reasons why Verner Panton’s lamps
– especially the semi-spherical Panthella lamp with its trumpet-shaped foot – has become a
true design icon with an edge to it.
“Since the retro-wave of the 1990s rolled over us, enthusiasm for Verner Panton’s lamps has
risen sharply. His products are in great demand at auction houses all over the world, and we
have received a great many requests for a Panthella lamp in a smaller format, designed to
stand on window sills, shelves, tables or other limited surfaces,” he says.
