Home is where the heart is. Home is also where all of us spend endless hours today, working, living, loving and thriving within its four walls. No wonder, even when the best of luxe suffered during the pandemic, the one realm that actually grew was home decor… Right from buying rare art, to redoing a corner to indulging in sweet nothings, consumers said a strong yes to home design.
Artisan luxe reigned supreme as brands and designers created rooted design, ushered in from the past and brought ceremoniously to the future. Like these lights’ series by Orange Tree, that I stumbled upon and they, in a subliminal way, reminded one of the ubiquitous, nearly inane lamps you spotted within thatched roofed cottages. Yet, these added to them a touch of art deco.
Orange Tree, a brand born in craft-rich Jodhpur and brought out before the world wide web by its gen-next: Gaurav Jain and Nikita Bansal curated and created the Minoo (Paradise in Persian) Collection inspired by Art Deco and the few artist of yore whose works now grace the Museums of the World.
“As the tasteful and affluent Indian got exposed to global trends his taste palette moved towards classical and neo-classical designs. He was, in his heart, committed to Indian craftsmen but his eyes wanted to see something linear, minimal and modern.” And this is the realm that we want to own,” shares Gaurav. The Minoo series, crafted by artisans of Rajasthan, defy any India links in their taste and design.
Taking inspiration from the Art Deco movement of the 1920s, each piece from this collection is reminiscent of the positivity, playfulness, opulence, and the promise of a new future that defined this movement. “Each design is meticulously hand-made by skilled artisans. The relative simplicity, planarity, meditative symmetry and unvaried repetition of elements come together to create this range,” explains Nikita Bansal, Head of Design, Orange Tree.
Besides the fact that each piece celebrates an iconic design and art bastion. Like the Klimt Collection, which is a symbolic representation of the 19th-century art movement of Impressionism characterised by small, thin brushstrokes and shifting light.
Then there are the Chrysler Lights, sleek, conical, nickel-finished reading light and strongly influenced by the European Art Déco style and its namesake New York skyscraper. Taking forward the Art Deco inspiration, the Arch Collection features lamps with clean, bold, concentric lines. The Deco hanging lamp in the Prerit Collection is meticulously hand-woven in golden wires in meditative symmetry.
Light filters through its many layers creating an ambience of positivity in the room. Imagining a conscious future, the Monet collection honours the humble cane in the form of a simplistic floor lamp. Additionally, the beautiful cane and wood are weaved together in the stunning, geometric pendant designs of the New Kyoto Collection. Cane takes on a more glamorous form in the Wave Collection’s hanging light where the eco-friendly material is woven into an innovative 3D wave pattern that is sure to add panache to your favourite corner.
And on a lasting note is the sustainable series—paper mache and meenakari—two stunning examples of eco-friendly craft techniques, to their repertoire of chic and conscious lighting. So, are you ready to get lit?