Touch and glow: a token of Lord Shiva informs the ‘Monolith’ table lamp
For Wallpaper* Handmade X, Indian studio Paul Matter and Belgian natural stone manufacturer Van Den Weghe produce a lamp with ‘calming and meditative’ energy
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- Sign up to our newsletter Newsletter

All gods have their emblems. The Hindu god Shiva has more than most: among them a third eye, a blue throat, a crescent moon branded on his forehead and a serpent garlanded around his body. Shiva also has the ‘lingam’, a phallus-like allegorical symbol announcing his reproductive power and aptitude for constructive destruction, which inspired the ‘Monolith’ table lamp at this year’s Handmade.
The project is a collaboration between Indian studio Paul Matter, founded by designer Nikhil Paul, and Belgian natural stone manufacturer Van Den Weghe, which has worked with Pierre Yovanovitch and Muller Van Severen, and teamed up with architect Glenn Sestig on his tabletop ‘Pleasure Dome’ for Handmade 2015. Paul founded his New Delhi atelier in 2016, and is known for gravity-defying lamps that often resemble globes or satellites, produced with the help of master craftsmen in materials such as hand-beaten brass, copper, stone, leather and glass.
At Van Den Weghe's HQ in Zulte, Belgium, examples of its 600 varieties of stone.
The ‘Monolith’ lamp is an exercise in reduction. ‘Our products usually have a lot of custom-made details,’ says Paul, ‘like screws, swivel nuts and washers, which were completely edited out here.’ His first prototype was envisioned in brass, but Paul responded enthusiastically to Wallpaper’s suggestion to experiment with stone instead. As its name suggests, the lamp is sculpted from one monolithic hunk of stone. Van Den Weghe stocks more than 600 varieties, but the team settled on Carrara marble. The stone was divided into two pieces, dome and base, which were milled and hollowed, ditching excess weight but leaving just enough thickness to prevent translucency. A single brass spine runs up the shaft, bolstering the structure and connecting the wiring like a neural network. The lamp’s simple geometry, smooth surface and labyrinth of veins in the stone make for what Paul calls ‘calming and meditative’ interactions with light.
In India, he says, people ‘tend to touch the Shiva lingam in order to unite with it, even for a second, or get vibrations from it’. This inspired the inclusion of Van Den Weghe’s signature Lapris Touch technology. Users turn the lamp on and off by hovering their hand over the dome. A gentle stroke of the dome then dims or brightens the light. How does it work? ‘It’s a corporate secret,’ says Van Den Weghe owner and managing director Tanguy Van Quickenborne. We’d like to imagine Shiva’s divine intervention.
As originally featured in the August 2019 issue of Wallpaper* (W*245)
INFORMATION
paulmatter.com (opens in new tab); vandenweghe.be (opens in new tab)
-
Glenmorangie unveils a whisky inspired by rugged Scottish forests
Glenmorangie’s A Tale of the Forest uses an ancient Highland method for drying barley to create a distinctive taste
By Mary Cleary • Published
-
Odile Mir: exploring the creative life of a self-taught polymath
Nonagenarian French artist Odile Mir is back for an encore, thanks to her granddaughter’s role in reissuing her modernist designs
By Amy Serafin • Published
-
Samuel Ross on the architectural influences behind his Acqua di Parma collaboration
Samuel Ross discusses the inspiration behind his redesign of Acqua di Parma’s iconic Colonia fragrance
By Mary Cleary • Published
-
First look inside Centurion New York by Yabu Pushelberg
Centurion New York is an expansive new space for American Express’ ‘black card’ members. Its interior designers Yabu Pushelberg give us a tour
By Tilly Macalister-Smith • Published
-
Is this the most beautiful office in the world?
Parisian creative agency Art Recherche Industrie’s new HQ translates a 19th-century landmark into a chic open-plan office worth leaving home for
By Rosa Bertoli • Published
-
Designer James Shaw’s latest creation is a self-built home in east London
James Shaw's east London home is Filled with vintage finds and his trademark extruded plastic furniture, a compact self-built marvel
By Rosa Bertoli • Published
-
Taschen tantalises with new edition of Jorge Pardo’s ‘Brussels Lamps’
German publishing house Taschen launches a limited-edition series of five ‘Brussels Lamps’ by Cuban-American artist Jorge Pardo
By Rosa Bertoli • Published
-
Edra’s outdoor furniture is an ode to the sea
Designed by long-term collaborator Jacopo Foggini, the ‘A’mare’ collection of outdoor furniture mimics shiny water, and was named 'Best Disappearing Act' at the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2023
By Rosa Bertoli • Published
-
Peep inside Luca Nichetto’s Pink Villa in Stockholm, part studio, part showroom
Welcome to the pink house that is the new Stockholm home to Luca Nichetto's team
By Maria Cristina Didero • Published
-
These papier-mâché lamps combine craft with sustainability
Sustainability and fine art are the driving inspirations behind ‘resolutely maximalist’ London lighting designer Rowena Morgan-Cox of Palefire
By Tilly Macalister-Smith • Published
-
Brighten up your evenings with these portable lights
The best portable lights and where to buy them: brighten up your winter nights with this edit of portable lamps for your desk, garden and more
By Rosa Bertoli • Last updated