Pisang Medium Banana Fibre Lampshade - Natural

The Pisang is built from braid rather than woven fabric. A flat plait of banana fibre and cotton is coiled round the shade in close rows from the top rim to the foot, so the surface is a set of raised horizontal ridges with the chevron of the plaiting running along each one. The colour is a pale straw, lighter and more even than jute. 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, and the ridged braid is what makes it a different object from a plain woven shade. The braid is dense enough that very little light passes through the sides: what reaches the room leaves through the open top and bottom, so the lamp lights the table under it and the ceiling above it rather than filling the space between. The ridges catch a raking light and read strongly even when the lamp is off. It weighs 0.65kg.

The braid is plaited and then coiled and stitched by hand around a metal frame, so the number of rows and the tension between them differ from shade to shade. The Pisang range also holds a large size. No bulb, base or fitting is included.

What is it made from?

A flat plaited braid of banana fibre and cotton, coiled in rows and stitched around a metal frame. The ridges are the rows of braid.

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.

Does light pass through it?

Very little. The braid is dense, so the light goes out of the open top and bottom and the shade itself stays dark.

How do I care for it?

Handle it by the fitting rather than the braid, and lift dust out of the ridges with a soft brush.