Hạ Chí

Hạ Chí, named after the Summer Solstice, is a round rattan shade with an open weave on a brass frame. The standard size is 45 cm across, right for a dining table for four or the sofa corner of a living room.

Who makes it, and how

Lâm Văn Lộc softens brass rod with a torch and bends it around a wooden jig, about half a day per frame. Huỳnh Thị Mến weaves the shade over a wooden mould of the same size (two days for a 45 cm shade) and seals it with a matte moisture coat. The mould keeps a dozen of them in a café looking like one family. Tô Minh Khang wires it with fabric cable, fits an E27 socket (the standard screw fitting sold in every electrical shop in Vietnam) and leaves it lit for 24 hours before packing. The number under the canopy matches a line in our ledger with all three names.

What the light does

The bulb is a 6 W LED at 2700K, the yellow-white of an old incandescent, with a spare in the box. The table gets direct light through the open base. The rest slips out through the weave and throws a pattern on the ceiling and any wall within about a metre. Pale walls show it clearly; dark timber swallows it.

For reading in an armchair, the Lập Thu pendant is the better choice.

Which room, which table

As a rule of thumb we size the shade to about half the width of the table.

• Ø35 cm (VND 2,600,000): a table for two, or a café table around 70 cm wide. Thềm Chiều café has twelve, one over each table.
• Ø45 cm (VND 2,900,000): a dining table for four, around 90 cm wide.
• Ø55 cm (VND 3,500,000): a large round table, or a living room with a ceiling of 3 m or more.

How high to hang it

Bottom of the shade 70 to 80 cm above the table. Where people walk underneath, we keep at least 2.1 m from floor to lamp. The standard cable is 1.5 m and Khang cuts it to length on the day; a ceiling like Thềm Chiều’s 3.6 m needs a longer one. Our guide to living and dining room pendants explains the measuring.

Looking after rattan

Dust it monthly with a dry cloth or soft brush. No sprays. Keep it out of bathrooms and off porches that catch rain. Raw brass darkens over the years; we never polish it back and suggest you leave it too. More on our rattan and brass pages.

Options people usually pick

• Finish: raw brass, matte black or matte white, same price. White ceilings often get white, so the frame disappears.
• Longer cable: VND 60,000 per extra 0.5 m, up to 3 m, in brown, black or cream.
• Offset swag hook (VND 150,000): when the ceiling outlet is not above the table.
• Dimming: a dimmable bulb (VND 90,000) and a wall rotary dimmer (VND 350,000). A 45 cm Hạ Chí with both: VND 3,340,000 before VAT.

Not sure about the size? Send a photo through the light mock-up page; within 48 hours you see Hạ Chí drawn into your own room.