Stained Glass Book Lamp

Six panels of hand-cut stained glass are assembled into the shape of a stack of books, and when the lamp is lit the coloured glass throws warm patches of colour across the wall behind it. Each panel is cut and soldered by hand into its lead came, which means colour breaks and seam lines vary slightly from piece to piece. That variation is the nature of the object rather than a flaw in it.

The glass is textured, so it scatters the bulb into a soft, diffused glow instead of throwing a hard hotspot, which is what makes it comfortable at a bedside or on a shelf at eye level. The colour is kiln-fired into the glass rather than applied as a surface film, so it will not fade with sun exposure over the years. It runs on a standard cord with an inline switch and needs no wiring at all.

It earns its place best in a reading corner or on a bookshelf, where the glow has a wall or a row of spines to catch; on an open console it reads more as sculpture than as a light source. Unlit, the stacked-book silhouette still holds up as an object. Because each piece is handmade, colour placement varies slightly from the photographs.

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