Donna Bates’ rural Irish background has highly influenced her first lighting collection, Parlour Lighting. The series was inspired by her early years growing up on a farmyard where the lighting vessels themselves echo glass vats found in a milking parlour. Launched at the Clerkenwell Design Week in May 2013 in London, the collection is a series of six differing shapes and lighting sizes.

The Parlour Lighting collection of vessels takes inspiration from the milking parlour and the receiving, which were used to collect the milk from the cows. The collection comprises options of colours and finishes; black, green or blue frames and oak or walnut-turned bases. Bates has made a considered effort to engage local craftspeople, where the pieces are hand-blown by the same manufacturers that used to create the jars for the dairy industry. The designer feels passionate about design, but equally so about supporting local hand skilled makers.

The reference is one of considered nostalgia, trending with current design and the consideration of re-use. While referencing local ways of life, past and present, the aesthetic has a warmth and familiarity. The combination of clear and frosted glass elements, together with the discreet bulb selection, all enhance the warmth that Bates has brought to this otherwise clinical form reference. I find this level of measured detail to be a nod to the user.

Photography courtesy of Dolf Patijn.