Wooden Lacquer Table Lamps (Pair)

About this piece

Wooden Lacquer Table Lamps (Pair) — A pair of turned lamps in naqshi lac. Made by hand from sheesham (rosewood) and coloured lac and metal base and fittings and finished in naqshi lac, the pattern scratched back through the colour, in the Sillanwali Handicrafts workshop in Sillanwali, Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan. It costs PKR 10,000 for the pair — two matching pieces. It is ready to ship and delivered within 3 to 4 days anywhere in Pakistan, paid in cash on delivery.

A pair of table lamps whose bodies are turned from sheesham on the khraad, then lacquered and cut back by hand so the pattern belongs to the wood instead of sitting on it as a printed film. The lac is melted onto the body by friction while it is still spinning on the lathe, layer over layer, and the pattern is opened through those layers with the sathrī, the iron tool that opens the furrow as it turns. Because the body is a curve rather than a flat panel, the bands have to be judged against a changing diameter — a line that reads even at the waist will crowd at the shoulder unless the artisan compensates as he cuts. Supplied with the shade shown, a metal base and the fitting. Lit, the point becomes obvious: light from the shade falls across the worked surface and the cut lines take the shadow, so the pattern deepens in the evening rather than flattening the way a printed lamp base does. Sold as a pair, because two lamps flanking a bed or a console only match if they were lacquered and cut in the same run. Made in Sillanwali, Sargodha. Dust with a soft dry cloth, keep water and polish sprays off the lac, and keep them out of direct sunlight.

Every piece is made by hand, so the wood grain, carving and colour vary a little from the photo. That variation is normal and is what makes each one its own.