Anglepoise

The British company Anglepoise emerged from the family business Herbert Terry and Sons Ltd, founded in 1855, originally producing only mechanical metal springs. Only from the 1920s Terry's developed also products that used these springs. These included, for example, pen holders, hockey sticks, car valves and bicycle saddles. In the 1930s, vehicle and industrial designer George Carwardine developed a mechanism to balance different weights with springs. This mechanism was initially used for a 4-spring desk lamp, but it was considered too industrial for the private market. In 1935 Carwardine designed the 3-spring version, the Original 1227 Desk Lamp, together with the designers at Herbert Terry and Sons Ltd. Lights with the tension spring technology still used today can be individually adjusted and remain in any set position. The Original 1227 desk lamp is still in production today and is one of the bestsellers of the British lamp manufacturer. Their iconic design is still used for various collections of table lights, wall lights, recessed lights, clamp lights, pendant lights and floor lights.
The lights of the British manufacturer inspired the proto-punk pop band The Soft Boys to their song "(I Want to Be an) Anglepoise Lamp" in 1979. The sculptor David Mach created the work of art "The Giant Hand Sculpture named Knuckle Shuffle" out of 360 black table lamps in 1985. The designer Sir Kenneth Grange, who had previously created successful designs such as Kodak cameras or the English Intercity 125 train, was appointed design director of the company in 2003. His designs include the Type 3 and Type 75 collections.
The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre in 2005 let create a version of the Original 1227 Desk Lamp, enlarged about three times to express the author's enthusiasm for this lamp. This Giant version was so popular that it has been produced as a regular lamp series ever since. To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Original 1227 Desk Lamp, it was immortalized on Royal Mail stamps along with other British design icons such as the Routemaster bus. British designer Paul Smith collaborated with Anglepoise in 2011 and since then has designed particularly colourful versions of Type 75 lamps in various sizes. Since 2012, Margaret Howell has also been designing exclusive colour versions of the Type 75 lamp collection. In 2016 Anglepoise lamps were included in the permanent exhibition of the new London Design Museum.