I always love seeing our lanterns within the porticos of London home when I drive around town. Our globe lantern is synonymous with Jamb as we were the first company to create the design and many clients have used it for their outside entrance light.
The small original globe lantern hanging in the portico of a London home.
Now, when working on the product development, I have to consider the electrification for lanterns as much as the final scale and patina. All of our lanterns are based on antique originals from the 18th through to the 20th Century; however they cannot only be restricted to interior wiring, so my amazing production team work tirelessly to make sure they are viable for outdoors.
There are some designs with open crowns and delicate casting that will never be suitable for the outdoors. However, most are adaptable with the correct wiring. Most of the globe and hanging lanterns are suitable for outdoor use. The four-arm centre is IP44 rated independently of the lantern so in theory any lantern with a three or four arm centre can be used. Our wonderful sales team at the Pimlico showroom instinctively know the right scale of lantern and design when clients come armed with images of their Portico, barn or conservatory.
The Windsor hanging lantern is a perfect choice in this conservatory.
For wall lights, the Benson and the original wall light are two favourite choices. I chose a pair of Benson wall lights for our house in Camberwell.
The Benson wall light used in an advertising campaign.
In America, the Art Deco Bradshaw always proves very popular. Stylistically it chimes. The Boswell is a new design which has proved popular and the Verity wall light is always a popular choice.
We are now able to wire our lanterns for the important UL damp listing required for the US where many of our lanterns are exported.
The small sized Verity wall light in Antique verdigris is perfectly in proportion in this eighteenth century wall garden.
All of our lights come in different finishes but the finish you choose for exterior environments is important, as there are finishes that are more durable than others. The best choice for external use is Verdigris and antique verdigris. All the finishes will change with time and either darken or lighten, depending on how much moisture it is subjected to.
Another very durable choice is brown bronze. With its acid treatment base and protective layer of wax it is very protective. If the lanterns are under cover, then you can choose from any finish.
The Original globe lantern in brown bronze.
Putting sealing is becoming increasingly used as a further step in protection for exterior lighting. It holds the glass and protects completely from wind and dust. In cases when a hanging lantern is used outside and has a large drop of chain we weld it rigid to avoid a large swing and smashed glass.
The Ruskin hanging lantern.
This month we completed our move to our new warehouse in Mitcham. We now have a state of the art lighting workshop that doesn’t sit still for a minute, finishing and wiring all the lanterns. The team are amazing and constantly resolving the wiring needed for each individual project and are often making bespoke brackets and canopies.