Huỳnh Thị Mến

Huỳnh Thị Mến learned to weave from her mother. Every shade that leaves the workshop goes through her hands: rattan, seagrass, and giấy dó (dó paper, made from the bark of the dó tree) laid over Lộc’s brass frames.

What she does on a lamp

Mến weaves on wooden moulds. Each model and each size has its own, so the shades in a set match and a lamp ordered today matches one ordered last year. One 45 cm shade for the Hạ Chí pendant takes her two days: an open rattan weave, so light escapes sideways and patterns the wall. The Đông Chí bell is woven closed except for one open band. The seagrass shades of the Lập Thu and Tiểu Mãn are tighter still and push the light downwards.

She also chooses the dó paper. Paper shades are laid in two layers on the frame, so the light comes through evenly and you can still see the fibres. When a rattan or seagrass shade is finished, she sprays it with a matte moisture coat.

Something she learned

She wove the first Tiểu Mãn sets freehand, without a mould. Three 24 cm shades in a row over a counter, and the middle one came out nearly a centimetre wider than the others, which you could see from across the room. She rewove the whole set. Since then every shade goes on a mould, even a single one.

What she looks out for

She will tell you plainly where a shade cannot hang: rattan stays out of bathrooms and off verandas that catch the rain, and dó paper does not belong in a damp room. That is why the shades at the Nhà Chín Phòng homestay in Đà Lạt are sealed rattan, not paper. Caring for rattan means a wipe with a dry cloth once a month.

What she has written

• Rattan pendant lights: what to look for and how to keep them
• A bedside lamp in dó paper
• Rattan, seagrass or bamboo: three fibres, three kinds of light
• Rattan lamps in the rainy season
• Export rattan lamps and small-workshop lamps

More on our rattan and dó paper materials pages.