Indian Lamp Base with Lotus Motif

Ribbed, fluted and ringed in lotus petals, it stands like a small temple column.

This lamp base with lotus motif comes from Rajasthan, India, and is contemporary, in camel bone and sheesham wood. The lotus is one of the most widespread motifs in Indian design, generally read as a symbol of purity because it blooms clean above muddy water. Here the bone is laid in narrow vertical strips over the wood, so the joins form fine lines up the whole column. A rope-carved band edges the round foot. Above the bell-shaped body, two layers of petals open beneath a ribbed globe topped by a small finial. It stands 17 inches high and 7.5 wide.

It looks finished already, but a shade would not object.