Coco Reynolds’ Timber Pendant Lamps
Beautiful hanging lamps, hand-lathed using FSC-certified wood
by Chantel Tattoli
In the field of furniture design, lighting is often overlooked, even though the right piece can define a room just as well as any Eames chair. Case in point: the beautiful timber pendant lamp creations by Sydneysider Coco Reynolds, designed to be either permanent fixtures in your home or temporarily hung from a hook on high—which could make them ideal options for non-invasive renters, not to mention the habitual itinerants among us. Though the “Bright Beads,” as she calls them, first surfaced last spring, the mood of the dark wood seems fit for a fall revisit.
Hand-turned on a lathe with FSC-certified American walnut, smoked ash, rock maple and American oak, the lamps are wonderfully adaptable; they’re perfect as stand-alone drops or together in chandelier-like clusters, and can be further characterized with a unusual lightbulb. Reynolds personally recommends pairing them with dimmable LED bulbs from Marz Designs (Reynolds’ young design firm) in round and teardrop shapes, which glow with a comforting Edison bulb lightness. (We can also imagine them fitted with the elegant and low-energy wares from Plumen for a contemporary accent.)
Reynolds herself is a graduate of Sturt, Australia’s prestigious center for contemporary craft and design, where she was schooled in the traditional woodworking techniques that quite literally shape these lamps. “I loved making jewelry as a child, threading beads onto string to make necklaces and other embellishments. In the same way, the lathed timber beads are designed to be assembled over the humble cord which is finished with a light bulb, either as decoration or accessory,” Reynolds says. “For me, the Bright Beads evoke a nostalgic playfulness.”
The timber pendant lamps (with Australian, American or UK outlets) are available online from Marz Designs. Prices range from $365 to $465 individually, or $1260 for a cluster of three and $1580 for cluster of four.
Images by James Braund
