Spalted Maple Sculpted Lamp
This lamp was crafted from a single 2 1/2” thick slab of spalted hard maple. Our plan was to make use of the natural grain and spalting patterns this piece afforded, as we often try to do. But this piece had a large and very ugly knot near its center. Some knots are attractive and we incorporate them into our pieces, but this one was not. So, we cut out the knot along its natural shape, and voila! We had a ‘natural’ opening for a light that resembled any number of things. Is it a heart? Or maybe a tulip? Who knows. In order to highlight the full pattern of spalt, we sliced a portion of the slab off the bottom and turned it on its side and another voila! We had the outline shape of a beautiful glass of wine, the bowl on the front of the wood, a stem that slides down the front along the top of the lamp base, with the face of the lamp base also displaying the base of the imagined glass of wine. Cool.
From there, we stylized the sides of the lamp with power and hand tools, created a lip for the stained glass to rest in, and cut and ground a beautiful piece of stained glass streaked with browns and creams that match the grains of the wood, yet when backlit, gives off a beautiful soft amber glow. The back of the lamp is open, and this allows for a soft cast of light up and out into the surrounding room. This lamp was finished with multiple coats of hand rubbed satin oil finish to really “pop” the spalted grains, and includes a long life candelabra base LED bulb and a 4 foot cord with in-line switch. It is intended as an accent lighting piece or a ‘lighted sculpture’ if you will, and not as a reading lamp or other main light in a room.
This solid, hefty lamp measures 16 1/2” tall x 13” long (at the base, with the light portion measuring about 9” long), and 4 1/2” deep (at the base)