Vintage Mid-Century Bookshelf Lamp from Atelje Lyktan, Sweden

Swedish designer K. Anders Pehrson was born in 1912 in Gothenburg.  He studied engineering in his hometown, and began working for Philips in 1952, as a Design Manager—a position he maintained until 1963.

In 1964, Pehrson became the owner, Head of Operations, and Artistic Director of the lighting manufacturer Ateljé Lyktan in Åhus. Following in the footsteps of Ateljé Lyktan founder Hans Bergström, Pehrson paid attention to lighting in the workplace, concerning himself and his designs with the improving the lighting in public and industrial environments. Unlike his predecessor Bergström, Pehrson championed a more industrial and large-scale approach to design, steering the company away from bespoke services toward mass production. He believed “good lighting is not always lots of light, but always several light sources”. This design philosophy resulted in not just increased number of designs, but the creation of whole lighting collections known as “families”, encouraging customers to collect the whole range.

For Ateljé Lyktan, Pehrson designed the classic pendulous Bumling ceiling lamp (1968). Bumling, which means ‘boulder’ in Swedish, was first exhibited at a lighting fair in Gothenburg. The bulbous lamp was over half a meter wide and bright green. The lamp was originally produced as a Family in six different sizes and a wide array of colors. The lighting fixture was an instant success in Sweden and internationally. Demand was so high, Ateljé Lyktan had to subcontract the production of additional lamps. In 1970, after a lighting exhibition in Copenhagen, Pehrson was asked to present a lighting proposal for the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. Pehrson developed an indoor lighting concept based on the 591 Simris table lamp and the 781 Simris floor lamp (both 1964). In 1972, Ateljé Lyktan supplied 16,300 lamps to the Olympic Village in Munich, which was the largest order in the company’s history.  In 1974, Pehrson sold Ateljé Lyktan to the Swedish company Fagerhult, but remained CEO, Artistic Director, and Marketing Manager throughout the 1970s.

During his time at Ateljé Lyktan, Pehrson designed many fixtures including Simris (1964), Rampling (1966), Supertube (1967), Fungus (1969), Crystal (1970), Knubbling (1971), Tube (1973), and Sovo (1978), among others. Pehrson passed away in 1982. 

* All images courtesy of Ateljé Lyktan.