Underside
Louis Poulsen, from 1958

PH 5 pendant: real or reproduction

A genuine one typically changes hands at €350, and a good reproduction sells for €60 to €140. That gap is why you turn the piece over before you pay.

Below is the whole checklist we run on this model, 5 markers, written so you could run it by hand. Send your photos and we read the most decisive one free.

The markers that decide it

  1. 01

    maker's text

    Louis Poulsen prints or stamps its name, and usually the Poul Henningsen name and a date, on the top shade. The text is small, even and slightly sunk into the paint. Stickers or absent text are flags.

  2. 02

    inner cone colours

    The original has a red and a blue detail on the inner shades that you can only see from below. Copies leave them out, or get the tone and placement wrong.

  3. 03

    shade edge and paint

    Rolled edges, thick even paint inside and out, and no light leaking through the metal at the edge. Thin, sharp edges and translucent paint are reproduction.

  4. 04

    shade geometry

    Three shades in a specific stack so no bulb is visible from any normal angle. If you can see the bulb from the side, the geometry is wrong.

  5. 05

    socket house and suspension

    Original socket houses are metal with a correct cord grip and a maker-marked ceiling cup. Plastic housings and generic cord kits point to a copy or a rewire.

This is an evidenced opinion read from photographs, never a certificate. A photograph cannot tell us what the piece weighs or how it sounds, and every report names what we could not check.

What one is worth

range as of September 2026

low
€180
typical
€350
high
€700
good reproduction
€60 to €140

Read from public results on Catawiki, LiveAuctioneers, Pamono, 1stDibs and Whoppah, for a piece in honest used condition. Condition, provenance and finish move it.

Check the one you are looking at

free · no account · PH 5 pendant
step one

Take these shots

These are the shots that decide this model. Fill the frame, hold still, and use even light.

  1. 01the top shade from above, showing any printed or stamped maker text
  2. 02the inside of the lamp looking up, showing the inner cone and its colour
  3. 03the shade edges from the side, whole lamp
  4. 04the suspension and the socket house, close
step two

Upload your photos

Up to six photos, taken by you, of the piece itself. Renders, generated images, screenshots and catalogue crops are refused: we cannot tie them to an object. They stay on your case page and nowhere else. No account, and the first read costs nothing.

Add at least one photo. The plate under the seat matters most.

no account · no subscription · one payment for one report

Other checklists

the whole catalogue