Carwardine, George

The English automotive engineer George Carwardine designed the "Anglepoise", a desk lamp, around 1930 and had its innovative construction patented in 1932. The shade is fastened to a long arm, which is jointed in two places.
This construction not only makes the lampshade adjustable but also enables users to position the entire lamp in different ways, depending on what source of light is needed. The equilibrium of forces is achieved in all positions to which the lamp can be adjusted by springs, which function on the principle of the muscles in the human arm. The springs are attached to both sides of the lower joint of the lamp arm so they work by equalizing countervailing forces to keep the lamp in equilibrium.
The construction developed for this lamp by George Carwardine is still in use and not just for lighting. George Carwardine's "Anglepoise" lamp was made for fifty years in various models and produced on a large scale by the English firm of Herbert Terry & Sons in Redditch.
In 1937 the Norwegian designer Jacob Jacobsen bought the licence from George Carwardine and Terry & Sons for manufacturing and marketing these lamps in Scandinavia. Jacob Jacobsen varied George Carwardine's design to produce the "Luxo L-1" line in lamps. From the 1940s Jacob Jacobsen owned the production rights for all of Europe and the US. The lamp became a hit worldwide. Since 1993 Tecta has made a new edition of the original George Carwardine "Anglepoise" lamp called the "L 10".