Product watch: The Urchin from Porta Romana

The Spring 24 Porta Romana collection is about the creation of lighting and furniture designs that will appeal to a multi-generational audience who want to be surrounded by things of beauty. Porta Romana’s goal is to create beauty in everything they do, that is why all their products are handcrafted, hand-finished, and created by the most accomplished artists and craftspeople.

Image credit: Porta Romana

The Urchin chandelier from Porta Romana, inspired by a Turkish hazel seed pod is a statement piece, dramatic in style and scale.  Exquisite sculptural tendrils of forged steel curlicue around each other to create a standout, organic form. Each tendril is carefully hand-painted by Porta Romana’s in-house artists, building layer upon layer of colour. If preferred, the Urchin can be custom painted in any finish of choice to suit your interior.

The making of the Urchin chandelier is an entirely traditional process. Inspired by nature, a reoccurring theme in many of Porta Romana’s designs, the original seed pod was carefully recreated as a paper model and then shared with their local maker as an initial reference point to inform the production process. Whereby the individual elements of the Urchin chandelier were first laser cut to produce a 2D net, they were then hammered and hand-formed, using a specially made tool — the process, repeated three times, each pass adding more texture and creating the distinctive conical shape. Finally constructed from thirteen elements, with thirteen separate light bulbs — each individual section has sixteen tentacles, creating two hundred and eight tentacles in total.

Craftspeople really are at the heart of Porta Romana and they’re fortunate enough to work with exceptional artists and makers from across the British Isles. Every glassblower, ceramicist, metalworker, or sculptor they collaborate with, brings their expert knowledge and craft to the fabrication of their designs, imprinting each one with a unique character.

The standout Urchin chandelier has featured in Grand Designs and proudly hangs in London’s Royal Academy of Arts, celebrating 250 years of art and history. Crafted with infinite care and a deep appreciation for timeless beauty, Porta Romana’s pieces are made to be cherished for generations to come.

Porta Romana is one of our Recommended Suppliers and regularly features in our Supplier News section of the website. If you are interested in becoming one of our Recommended Suppliers, please email Katy Phillips.

Main image credit: Porta Romana