Mendai Medium Velvet & Linen Lampshade - Mocha

The Mendai is a tapered drum in mocha velvet, lined in natural linen that shows as a pale band at the top rim. The velvet is a washed cotton pile, so the brown moves between a deeper cocoa and a lighter rubbed tone across a single face rather than sitting flat. This is the medium: 18.5cm tall and 30.5cm across.

Thirty centimetres is the width most ordinary table lamps are built around, so this is the size that will fit a lamp already in the room. In mocha it changes what that lamp does: a mid brown velvet holds more light inside than a pale shade, so instead of glowing all over it puts a defined pool on the table and a wash up the wall. On a clear glass or pale wooden base the contrast is the point; against dark wood the whole lamp settles back. It fits a table lamp, a floor lamp or a ceiling pendant. It weighs 0.39kg.

The velvet and linen are stitched by hand over an iron frame, so the pile lies differently on each shade and the seam falls in its own place. The Mendai range runs from small to extra large in this mocha and again in a moss green. No bulb, base or fitting is included.

How do I measure for a lampshade?

Measure across the widest part of the base, pick a shade wider than that, then check the height against the bulb so the fitting is hidden at sitting height.

Will a brown shade give less light?

Less through the velvet itself. Most of it leaves through the open top and bottom instead, so you get a pool below and a wash above rather than an even glow.

Is the inside velvet as well?

No, the lining is natural linen, visible as a pale band at the top rim, and it is what keeps the reflected light warm rather than muddy.

How do I care for it?

A soft bristle brush, a microfibre cloth or a lint roller for dust. No water on velvet, it stains. Handle it by the frame, keep it out of direct sunlight, and turn it occasionally so any fading is even.