Dia Large Jute Lampshade - Ink

The Dia in ink is coarse jute dyed to a deep blue black, formed as a tapered drum and lined pale on the inside. This is the large: 21.5cm tall, 35cm across the top and 40.5cm across the base. The dye sits unevenly in a fibre this open, so the weave shows through as lighter flecks and the surface has movement in it rather than reading as a flat dark panel.

Forty centimetres is floor lamp width. On an ordinary table lamp this size overhangs the surface; on a floor lamp base over a metre tall it is in proportion with the column, and a dark shade on a tall base is a different proposition from a pale one. Very little light passes out through the dyed jute, so almost all of it leaves through the top and bottom openings: a defined pool on the floor and a wash up the wall, rather than a glow from the shade itself. At 21.5cm deep it hides the lampholder from a seated eye. It weighs 0.66kg.

Jute is a plant fibre, coarse and hard wearing, woven and dyed before being formed over the frame, so the depth of colour and the grain differ from shade to shade. The Dia range runs from small to extra large in this ink and again in natural jute. No bulb, base or fitting is included.

Is the large too big for a table lamp?

For most, yes. At 40.5cm across the base it overhangs an ordinary side table. It is the size for a floor lamp or a ceiling pendant.

Will a dark shade give less light?

Less through the shade itself. The dyed jute keeps most of it inside and sends it out of the open top and bottom, so you get a pool below and a wash above rather than an even glow.

How dark is ink?

A deep blue black. In daylight the open weave lets the fibre show through as lighter flecks, so it reads nearer charcoal; lit at night it goes darker.

How do I handle it?

Hold it by the fitting and never by the jute, because taking the weight on the fabric pulls a shade this wide out of shape. A microfibre cloth, gently, is all it asks for.