12th November 2010
v37
~ Design & Technology ~
Designers and Designing
Designers and Designing
Many modern table lamps used in offices and at home are based on the cantilevered and counterbalanced concept of George Carwardine - the originator of the “Anglepoise” lamp - designed and patented in 1932 and produced by Herbert Terry Ltd.
He based the idea on the way human limbs are joined and tensioned and his design allowed the lamp head to be placed - and remain - in almost any position around the lamp-base. This was a great design
He based the idea on the way human limbs are joined and tensioned and his design allowed the lamp head to be placed -
at the time and received a good deal of interest - especially following the acquisition of the patent by a Norwegian engineer and textiles designer, Jacob Jacobsen in 1934. He based a
lamp design of his own on the Anglepoise and this has continued in production for many years. Jacobsen’s lamp; the Luxor L-1 is featured in the museum of Modern Art in New York.
Versions continue to be produced - this large version is currently available and is based on Carwardine’s original lamp.
It had been Carwardine’s original
idea to extend the spring-balance
uses to supporting phones,
shelves and similar products.
It had been Carwardine’s original
idea to extend the spring-
shelves and similar products.
