Isamu Noguchi Akari paper pendant

Isamu Noguchi (1904 – 1988) was an artist, furniture designer, ceramicist, theatre designer and landscape architect. In 1951, he began designing Akari Light Sculptures – 100 of them – to reinvigorate the flailing craft of lantern making in Ozeki. Akari means ‘light’ in Japanese, suggesting luminous and weightless. Noguchi said of the series: “The harshness of electricity is… transformed through the magic of paper back to the light of our origin – the sun – so that its warmth may continue to fill our rooms at night.”

Akari lampshades were made by highly skilled craftspeople in the traditional way. A coiled wire frame is wrapped with hand cut paper glued to the frame. Each piece takes a considerable time to make. These first editions were made from a locally sourced mulberry-bark, which develops a beautiful patina with age. This lamp is a very rare 1^st edition piece as evinced by its original box and signature. Re-wired and PAT tested for the UK.

H160 W47cm

F278