Ceramic pendant lights – a buyer’s guide

 

Ceramics bring that lovely, handmade feel to a room – and a very fine way to use nice pottery is to hang it from the ceiling in the form of a lamp. Here’s a buyer’s guide to ceramic pendant lights…

Glass pendants lights are perfect for a bit of glamour, and metallic ones for an industrial scheme – but ceramics bring something very different. If you like a handmade, arts & crafts sort of feel in your home, but without sacrificing smartness, good quality ceramics are perfect – and a pendant light is an unusual, imaginative way to bring them into a room while maximizing the space available. At Pooky we do ceramic pendant lights in a variety of shapes and sizes and in a range of colour glazes. Here’s a buyer’s guide to help you to choose…

Step 1: Choose your style

What feeling do you want to get from your lights? At Pooky we have three different styles of ceramic pendant shade, each with a very distinctive feel. If you like that crafty feel – where you can really sense the hand of the potter, then go for one of our Hania pendants. They come from a tiny pottery in the hills of Southern Poland run by brilliant (and very nice) couple, who happen to make these wonderful ceramics, notable for their very strong and rich glazes. No two are the same, so there are some imperfections – little lumps and bumps that merely add to their beauty, if that’s the sort of thing you like.

Alternatively, if you want perfect straight lines and a more sleek look, try the Cookie. It’s in the classic ‘coolie hat’ shape: an elegant, slick style that works in virtually any contemporary interior.

Or for something where you can really feel the weight hanging from the ceiling – go for a bowl. The Serge is really the top half of a dome – a solid piece with a feeling of gravitas.

 

Step 2: Choose your size

Do you want your ceramic pendant light to make a statement? To fill a space and really stand out in a room, in an entrance hall, or over a dining table? If so, the extra large Hania is 44cm in diameter, while the large Cookie is an even mightier 44cm.

But if you’re hanging a series of pendants – perhaps a row of three over a long dining table, or five in a hallway – then a smaller light might be better. The regular Hania and the smaller Hoolie are both 27cm in diameter, and work beautifully in sequences.

Step 3: Choose your colour glaze

Another big advantage of ceramics is that you can introduce strong, rich colours that you just can’t quite reproduce in other materials. For the Hania our Polish potter couple have created some gorgeous, intense glazes: 'pacific' blue, ‘cherry’ red and even the ‘arran’ white is a sort of super-white.

That rich colour for the Serge bowl is oxblood. Meanwhile, if you prefer a subtler colour scheme, the Cookie comes in stone, or a lovely windward blue with a stone-coloured interior – though there’s also a vibrant frosty green.

 

Step 4: Choose your fitting

Classic pendant light kit in antiqued brass

If you’re going for a pendant light, we offer a range of light fittings to match them, including in brass, bronze, chrome and silver. View all our designer ceiling light fittings here.

We also have pendant lights in brass, glass, fabric, metal and even concrete. Check out the full collection of designer pendant lights here.