Charleston Square Ceiling Light

Charleston is built from flat strips of plate glass. Each strip is pierced at the head and hung on a pin from a square metal frame, and the strips overlap in tiers that step inwards as they descend, so from the side the fitting has the outline of an inverted ziggurat. From directly below, the lamps sit inside a square well of glass, framed by each tier in turn.

The colour is held inside the strip. Gold, Copper and Silver carry a metallic fleck, seen close to as an uneven speckle under a rippled surface. Ambra is a grainy amber and Seta an opaline silk white. Clear has the same ripple without the fleck, so the lamps blur behind it. The frame comes in brushed gold, brushed copper or brushed nickel, and Multiforme photographs gold on gold and copper on copper, which makes plate and strips read as one material.

All four sizes are 40cm deep and fix flat to the ceiling, so there is no drop to set. Under a 2.4m ceiling that leaves 2m clear: fine above a table or a seating group, but short of the 2.1m needed to walk beneath, so a hall or landing wants 2.5m. The 50cm, with seven lamps, suits a bedroom or a small dining room. The 60cm and 70cm both carry nine lamps, and the 70cm suits a square table of about 100 to 120cm. The 100cm has 20 lamps and weighs 85kg, so check the fixing first. The maker photographs a pair in a panelled sitting room.

Multiforme is a manufactory of art glass lighting based at Trebaseleghe, in the Veneto.

Configurations

• Square, 50 x 50cm: Ø50cm, 40cm high, 7 x E14, 20kg. Code PL7500Q-50x40.
• Square, 60 x 60cm: Ø60cm, 40cm high, 9 x E14, 30kg. Code PL7500Q-60x40.
• Square, 70 x 70cm: Ø70cm, 40cm high, 9 x E14, 40kg. Code PL7500Q-70x40.
• Square, 100 x 100cm: Ø100cm, 40cm high, 20 x E14, 85kg. Code PL7500Q-100x40.

Specification

• Design: Multiforme
• Materials: plate glass strips on a square metal frame
• Glass: Gold, Ambra, Copper, Silver, Seta or Clear
• Light source: E14 lamps, 40W maximum each
• Mounting: flush to the ceiling
• Protection: IP20, for dry indoor use
• Frame: Brushed gold, Brushed copper, Brushed nickel
• Tolerance: made by hand, so dimensions can vary by ±5% and shape, decoration and colour tone can vary slightly
• Certification: CE

Made to order for you. Caspen confirms the glass, the frame and the drop in writing before production begins, and the lead time is confirmed at order. Other colours from the maker's chart, other sizes and project quantities are quoted through the studio.