Anders Pehrson

Anders Pehrson (1912–1982)

Executive summary

Anders Pehrson is one of the defining figures of post-war Scandinavian lighting design. Trained as an engineer in Gothenburg, he bought – at the age of 52 – the small Åhus lighting manufactory Ateljé Lyktan from Svenska Philips in 1964 for a symbolic single Swedish krona and, over the following fifteen years or so, turned it into one of Sweden's most important lighting manufacturers. With the pendant lamp "Bumling" (1968) and the office lighting system "Supertuben" (1967), he created two classics that remain among the most iconic Swedish design objects of the 20th century. His guiding principle: the four F – "färg, form, funktion och familj" (colour, form, function, family). Pehrson died in 1982.
From the missed Olympic cyclist to Sweden's lighting pioneer
In 1936, a young man from Gothenburg was selected for the Olympic cycling training programme ahead of the Berlin Games. He never made the Olympic squad. His revenge came 36 years later – not in the saddle, but with light: for the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics, Ateljé Lyktan under Anders Pehrson's leadership delivered some 16,000 white lamps for the Olympic Village (Jansson 2009, pp. 101–102). This biographical bracket – the young racing cyclist who could not compete in Berlin 1936, but who "pedalled into" the Olympic Village in Munich 1972 with a lighting concept – gives the entire Pehrson chapter in Jansson's book its title "Cyklisten" ("The Cyclist"). At the same time it captures his career arc: from the technically-trained sportsman came the marketing and design mind who carried Swedish light out into the world.

Biography

Full name: Anders Pehrson (also given in some sources as K. Anders Pehrson)
Born: 19 September 1912 in Gothenburg
Died: 1982
Education: Engineering (ingenjörsexamen), trained in Gothenburg
Family: married Karin Ney (union entered aged 27; later divorced 1963/64); three sons: Leif, Göran (b. 1944) and Kjell Pehrson

Early career (Gothenburg / Stockholm, 1930s–1963)

After graduating as an engineer, Pehrson set aside his competitive cycling ambitions (Monark racing bike, Berlin 1936 Olympic training group, but narrowly missing the Olympic squad) and began his technical career. From the late 1930s onwards he worked at Bröderna Anderssons Velociped- & Radiofabrik in Gothenburg, known as "Kungs-Radio". There he developed a feel for colour and form: the post-war colour-lacquered radio cases (replacing the previously ubiquitous brown Bakelite boxes) proved an early sales success, and for Pehrson a formative lesson in how colour can lift a technical product. In 1954 he moved to Centrum-Radio (group AB Gylling & Co) as sales chief, and the family relocated to Nacka near Stockholm; here he worked on Centrum Snabbtelefoner (intercom), which enjoyed major international success. A few years later he joined the electronics group Svenska Philips in Stockholm – first as sales chief, then in product development and finally as Design Chief. It was through Philips that he came to know the Åhus manufacturer Ateljé Lyktan, which belonged to the Philips group from 1962 to 1964 and produced the "Philips Hemarmatur" range. During several factory visits he concluded that it would be "a rewarding task to take over such a smaller company" – he had recognised the outstanding craftsmanship of the workforce and the quality of some of the Bergström designs.
Takeover of Ateljé Lyktan (April 1964)
In April 1964 Pehrson drove to Åhus in his Citroën DS 19 "Paddan" and bought the company for a symbolic single krona. A state loan enabled him to renew the outdated machine park; without this modernisation Ateljé Lyktan would not have survived after its loss-making years. As early as 1965 he acquired the tradition-rich A.-B. Arvid Böhlmarks Lampfabrik in Stockholm (see the separate Böhlmarks profile); several Böhlmarks models continued to be produced afterwards at the Åhus plant. Pehrson's goal was not the exclusive one-off design but cost-efficient serial production with a clear design signature.

Design philosophy: the four F

Pehrson's design ethos can be summarised by the four F: färg, form, funktion, familj – colour, form, function, family (the latter in both senses: constructively as a product family and emotionally as an everyday object). Constructively he pursued modular components which allowed whole ranges – with varying sizes – to be built from just a few elements (foot, stem, shade). Formally he sought reduced, often purely cylindrical or hemispherical basic shapes whose effect depended entirely on proportion and – above all – colour. He deliberately chose bold car-lacquer colours: "It's a question of catching a trend; once it has turned into a wave, it's already too late" (paraphrased after Jansson 2009, p. 120).

Volkswagen Hannover 1966 – the idea for coloured lamps

Key experience came in 1966 at the Hannover lighting fair, combined with a side trip to the nearby Volkswagen plant together with his son Göran Pehrson (who had recently joined Ateljé Lyktan as head of construction). Anders Pehrson saw the newly presented colour palette of the VW 1300 ("Bubblan") in bright signal colours – and reportedly said: "If you can make cars in colours like these, why not lamps?" (paraphrased after Jansson 2009, p. 118).This thought became the germ of the colour-lacquered Bumling.

Bumling" – the Swedish icon (1968)

The Bumling was launched in January 1968 at the Gothenburg lighting fair. The sheet-metal dome with its distinctive stepped upper rim was deep-drawn by the printer Tryckta in Markaryd using the "trycksvarv" process; the intended final finish was a racing-car-green "Serva Lack" car paint. Since spray-lacquering was no longer available in time before the trade fair, the first prototype was hand-painted in the Åhus paint shop with Serva Lack; small scraps of packaging paper still stuck to the tacky lacquer when the lamp was set up in Gothenburg. The name "Bumling" (Swedish for "large boulder") is, according to a not-entirely-confirmed anecdote, traced to Anders Pehrson's exclamation "det där var mig en stor bumling, du Anders!" ("well, that was quite a boulder, Anders!"). The lamp was eventually released in six diameters: 190, 250, 300, 400, 485 and 600 mm; available as pendant, floor and table versions, in a broad Scandinavian palette of bold lacquer colours (green, orange, blue, yellow, white and others). The Bumling remains one of the best-selling Swedish lighting icons.
Further key models

●      Simris (1964) – an early model from Pehrson's first year at Ateljé Lyktan.
●      Rampling (1966) – production model.
●      Supertuben (1967) – a modular office lighting system, Pehrson's second major success: a linear, chainable luminaire system for open-plan offices. Later reconstructed in the late 1970s for even light output over the full length; in the mid-1990s converted to T5 tubes (extruded aluminium profiles by Sapa Profiler). Accessories included integrated power outlets, LED/night lights and loudspeaker modules. Alongside Bumling, the second long-running Ateljé Lyktan classic.
●      Elevinken (mid-1960s) – a hospital bed / bedside luminaire developed ergonomically in the basement of the Rönnowsgatan villa, which was set up as a mock hospital ward. The name plays on the Swedish TV marionette Televinken; operation via Bowden cables and a hand grip is a deliberate marionette reference. An example of Pehrson's early focus on the public sector (hospitals).
●      Bumling (1968) – see above.
●      Fungus (1969) – organic mushroom-like pendant shape.
●      Crystal (1970).
●      Knubbling (1971) – the "little brother" of the Bumling in a more compact, stocky form.
●      Tube (1973).
●      Sovo (1978) – the last major series under Pehrson.

After Pehrson: legacy and collector market

Pehrson's models are today sought-after collectors' items internationally and are traded on specialist vintage design platforms such as 1stDibs and Pamono. For Ateljé Lyktan – part of the Fagerhult Group since 1974 – Bumling and Supertuben still form the iconic backbone of the brand. After Pehrson's withdrawal, Bengt Fitger took over as managing director in 1978; the orientation shifted more towards professional project lighting. Anders Pehrson died in 1982.

Sources used

Primary source:

●      Johan Jansson (co-author Staffan Bengtsson): "Ljuset ska vara vitt och lysa fritt – Historien om ateljé Lyktan", Åhus/Fagerhult 2009, in particular Part 2 "Cyklisten – Historien om Anders Pehrson" (pp. 101–145) and the introductory section "DESIGNCHEFEN" (pp. 102–103). Further Pehrson-relevant material in the catalogue "Lamporna" (pp. 231 ff.).
Supplementary online sources:
●      "Anders Pehrson", Pamono: https://www.pamono.com/designers/anders-pehrson/
●      "Anders Pehrson", 1stDibs: https://www.1stdibs.com/creators/anders-pehrson/
●      "Anders Pehrson", Design Addict: https://designaddict.com/designer/anders-pehrson-2/
●      "Anders Pehrson", Studio Schalling: https://schalling.se/designer/anders-pehrson
●      "Anders Pehrson Bumling Floor Lamp", Vintageinfo: https://vintageinfo.be/anders-pehrson-bumling-floor-lamp/
●      "Anders Pehrson Bumling Pendant Lamp", Vintageinfo: https://vintageinfo.be/anders-pehrson-bumling-pendant-lamp/
●      "Ateljé Lyktan", Swedish Wikipedia: https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atelj%C3%A9_Lyktan
●      "Ateljé Lyktan – mer än bara Bumling", Bizstories: https://www.bizstories.se/foretagen/atelje-lyktan-mer-an-bara-bumling/
Research date: 18 July 2026. All biographical data and quotations are independent summaries of facts from the sources listed above. Short verbatim quotations are attributed to author and page number.