Mendai Small 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 rather than a flat one, so the brown moves between a deeper cocoa and a lighter rubbed tone as the shade turns, and the seam runs as a single vertical line. This is the small size: 14.5cm tall and 20cm across.

At 20cm across it fits a small base, a bedside lamp or a squat body, and it is the size that keeps a shade from overhanging a narrow table. Mocha is a warm mid brown, dark enough to hold most of the light inside the shade and send it out of the open ends, so a small Mendai puts a pool on the table and a wash up the wall rather than glowing all over. The pale linen lining keeps what comes back down warm instead of muddy. It fits a table lamp, a floor lamp or a ceiling pendant. It weighs 0.204kg.

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.

Which base does the small suit?

A small one. At 20cm across it sits over a bedside lamp or a squat body; on anything wide it will look undersized and leave the fitting showing.

Is the inside velvet as well?

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

How dark is mocha?

A warm mid brown. It holds more light in than a pale shade does, so expect a defined pool below rather than an even glow.

How do I care for it?

A soft bristle brush, a microfibre cloth or a lint roller to lift dust. Velvet should not be cleaned with water, which stains it. Handle it by the frame, keep it out of direct sunlight, and turn it now and then so any fading is even.