This beautiful collection of wicker lamps makes us think of a tightly knit family of three. Medusa, Chinita and Bellota are born from a very interesting collaboration between star Scandinavian designers Claesson Koivisto Rune, the young label Made in Mimbre and Chilean wicker weaving artisans. The idea behind this collection is that of employing local artisans to create contemporary objects in a professional context and in so doing preserve their wicker weaving techniques. Not only is there great potential and intrinsic value in the handicraft of these lamps, but the quality of the light they diffuse is fantastically warm and atmospheric. In honor of the origins of the manufacturer, the designers have chosen to give the lamp designs Spanish names: MEDUSA, CHINITA, BELLOTA.
The MEDUSA lamps, with their oval-shaped lampshades, appear to balance on numerous thin, spindly supports. Rather than trimming the excess lengths of wicker, as is usually done, the designers kept them and hid three thin metal legs amongst them. The resulting designs remind us of jellyfish, floating, with their many trailing tendrils. Almost as if they have been nipped and then pulled, four ‘feet’ appear to have been stretched from the bottom edge of the CHINITA lamps. The result is a series of lamps with a cute, creature-like character. Like small, friendly bugs. Like ladybugs, for example. The BELLOTA suspension lamps are two, similar forms combined to make a whole, but still remain independent. In keeping with the nature theme, the inspiration for the BELLOTA design is derived from the distinctive form of the acorn, where one form can be seen to partially ‘cover’ the other.
