What is so special about lamp models that display the name Le Klint? Well, for one the Danish company has a reputation for excellence and for delicately beautiful design. They have also managed attract the talents of a number of well-known and gifted artists. These include Kaare Klint, widely named the father of modern Danish furniture and the award-winning Vilhelm Wohlert, to name but a few.

Peder Vilhelm Jensen-Klint, born in 1853, in Denmark, was many things, painter, architect, designer and theorist. To this day, Grundtvig's Church in Bispebjerg, Copenhagen, completed in 1926, stands as monument to his architectural vision. His other significant contribution was the design of a cross-pleated lampshade. Four decades later, that lampshade would enter production as a Le Klint original.

The Klint family are famous for their genius in structural design, but it was Tage Klint, the son of P. V. Jensen Klint, who founded the business enterprise that was to become the prestigious Le Klint. Born in 1884, he had previously worked as a chartered surveyor. The unique collar fitted to the first typical Klint shades was his design. Several lamps designed by Tage Klint are still found in the Le Klint range.

Kaare Klint, P.V. Jensen Klint's other son was born in 1888 and studied architecture under his father and Carl Petersen. The multi-talented Kaare completed the surrounding buildings to his father's masterpiece, Grundtvig's Church and also designed the Bethlehem Church in Copenhagen, but he is as well known for his interiors as for his exteriors. The chairs he produced for institutions such as Faaborg Museum and the Danish Museum of Decorative Art proved to be classics and from 1924, he lectured at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, on the subject of furniture design. More importantly, for the business of Le Klint, he also left numerous designs for striking lampshades, some of which are still in production today.

The sons of both Tage and Kaare Klint remained active in the company. Jan Klint has in the running of Le Klint, been very successful in attracting the best talent available. Kaare's son Esben continued the family tradition, having also designed several memorable lampshades. A fund created by Jan Klint in 1972 supports former employers and designers.

Many foremost Danish designers have contributed to the creative output of Le Klint. They include sculptors, Henning Seidelin and Aage Petersen, the husband and wife team of Edvard and Tove Kindt-Larsen, Erik Hansen, designer of the original scissor lamp, Poul Seest Pedersen, who was in 1979 awarded the Le Klint Fund Grant and Flemming Agger, whose ideas shaped the best selling model 368 floor lamp, to name but a few. Philip Bro Ludvigsen created the innovative Undercover concept for Le Klint. To this day, the Le Klint shades are hand pleated, as management firmly believes that no machine could come close to duplicate the work of its crafters.

Le Klint has a reputation that, quite literally, glows in the dark. The 60th anniversary of the company coincided with a prestigious appointment as Purveyors to the Royal Danish Court. The honour is a formal acknowledgement of the high esteem Le Klint is held in. Its lamps already adorn the royal yacht, the royal train carriage and also the royal reception rooms at Copenhagen airport.