My trip to India was a smashing hit. This trip was for business and not pleasure, but who cares when my business is pleasure. The trip took me to the center of India, south of its capital, to a city called Rajasthan.[I:http://the-light-fantastic.info/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/EricWilley4.jpg]
The assignment was to specifically find designs that would be able to be featured for our summer collection of light fixtures. The piece was supposed to be anchored around movable lighting like floor lamp lighting and table lamps lighting. Specifically, I was in search of the British-India colonial feel of elegance and intricately designed table lamps. I had always known that table lamps found in this part of the world were exotic, but it turns out, I had no idea as to the richness of what there is to be found there.
To appreciate table lamps, you have to relinquish your utilitarian view of table lamps and adopt a view that there is tremendous artistry and elegance in hand crafted designs. These designs eventually are the catalyst to a serene and cozy atmosphere. Every table lamp can be divided into two distinct parts, the base and the lam shade. Here in Rajasthan, the base consists of hand etched silver complimented by the lamp shade of pure Tibetan woven silk.
There was one table lamp that just absolutely astounded me. This table lamp was about three feet tall with a base made sterling silver with intricate carvings, it told the story in detailed pictures of the Rajashtan Prince from birth to puberty, his early ascension to the throne and his teenage marriage up to his eventual demise. Sixty years of a nobleman’s life delicately hand carved. The story starts at the base and spirals its way through the top. There were two of them sold as a pair and they were the only one like that. A unique pair of table lamps.
Table lamps are great in the living hall, the walk way, in the master bedroom or guest room. The pair I described above will be a fabulous master bedroom piece. When it was engraved and made, it was obviously used as a wood burning lamp. Since then it has been retrofitted with the necessary wiring and fittings to be an elegant electric table lamp.
I eventually bought the pair of table lamps lighting the front of the store, after much persuasion – not those two I wrote about, but another pair that was a fraction of the price. But I did manage to take a bunch of pictures of it. That was free.
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