My Panton Home – A blog about a manic collector and his Verner Panton collection – Please klick to read
My manic interest in Verner Pantons design started over 10 years ago in 2001 when I visited an Panton exhibition by chance at the London design Museum.
I was on tour as a guitartech with the Cardigans and had a day off in London and read Time Out to see if there was anything fun to do in town.
I had heard about Verners design from before and had already fallen in love with the VP globe which i had seen in a local designshop.
But when I entered this exhibition………it was as close to enlightment I think I have ever come.
This was a mindblowing exeprience to say the least and it affected me greatly.
Now I have been collecting Verners design for over 10 years and i am not stopping anytime soon.
So please, if you have any item by Verner Panton for sale please do not hesitate to contact me!
Hi!
First of all, a big thank you for a great blog! Congratulations to your amazing collection!
Since you, quite obviously know a thing or two about Panton’s work, I take the liberty to ask a question.
A while back, I found what I believe is an original Fun lamp but I have a hard time establishing that it really is an original.
I can’t find any makers marks on it but it has an older appearance. The lamp cord and the fixture for the bulb was gone and a few discs were cracked when I found in a very old box, labelled with an old local lamp/electrical shop which went out of business many years ago.
This has lead me to beleive it is an original but is there a way to be sure about it?
I hate all kind of forgeries, or fakes, and will not have anything to do with such hence my question(s).
Keep up the good work!
Jim
Hi Jim.
Thanks for contacting me about this and thanks for the nice words!
Most likely the lamp is an original but to make sure maybe you could email me some pictures of it and i can tell straight away.
There are vintage replicas of these lamps but usually they are more crudely made and have the wrong sizes.
The problem is that Luber very rarely labeled their Panton lamps, only on the table models of the FUN lamps there are sometimes small Luber labels on them.
So it can be hard to know for sure if you dont have good knowledge of how they were constructed.
But some basic guidelines are that the shells always are 5cm in diamter, small ringchains were used to attach the shells to eachother and to the frame, never fishline like on some repros.
Also, the frame is in 95% always in a chrome/silver finish, original goldplated examples exsist but are very rare, i have also seen whitepainted frames but they are even more rare!
Dennis
Thank you very much for your reply! I appreciate it inmensely!
I am away from home on a work trip so I will try to send you some pics as soon as I get right after Easter.
Thanks again for a great blog and your willingness to share your knowledge!
With kind regards
Jim
No problem, just send the pics when you can.
Dennis
Hi Dennis,
First, you have an absolutely amazing site. Verner Panton is my favorite modern designer! I wish I could afford more of his pieces. As of right now, I have a few of the Ilumesa’s made by Innovation Randers. They are orange and are in their original boxes. Is there a desire for these compared to the original 1968 version? I know originally there were 4 colors: Purple, Red, White and Orange. I heard that Innovation Randers had made them in orange back in 1994 and now they’re being produced by Vitra in white. Is this correct?
Any information on them is greatly appreciated! Thanks again for having such a wonderful site!
Jason
Hi Jason.
Thank you for the nice words!
You have great taste 🙂
The Innovation edition of the Illumesa is considered to be less expensinsive and collectible than the original Louis Poulsen version.
They are however very similar with only slight differences.
I think Innovation made them in both orange and white versions, but not red or the super rare purple which was only made in 3-4 examples.
Right now it is Verpan that produces the Illumesa, but in white only.
Honestly not sure if Vitra ever made them, need to check that.
But if you are looking to sell your Illumesas they are still very sellable even though it is not the original edition.
//Dennis