Jim fabricates prototype models that he then makes into plaster molds. The mold is cast with porcelain slip to create each lamp body, cup, or vase. Surface treatments and glazes are applied by hand individually to each piece. The pieces then make their way to the garden where Jim glaze fires them at cone 10 for desired hardness and strength in his hand-built gas kiln. At this point, smaller housewares which require no assembly or finishing are ready to be sent to you. Once unloaded from the kiln, the lamps are matched with wood components turned by a local artisan from wood that Jim has personally selected. Lume Home’s custom designed shades are manufactured in America to our specifications. In keeping with the Bauhaus philosophy, Jim is in touch with the entire process from start to finish before being shipped throughout the country.

Details are very important to us. We strive to make a superior handmade object that will reside in your home for many years to come. While Lume Home sells paired lamps and coordinated housewares, it is important to understand that no two are absolutely identical. As with any object made by hand from natural materials there exist small variations in each one—variations that make each object a unique piece of art. Our wood, as it is found in nature, will contain natural inclusions or fluctuations in grain and tone. We purposefully finish our wood to accentuate these natural details and not to hide them. Just like the trees that gave us the wood, the glazes on our lamps and housewares often seem to have lives of their own—reacting to mixing, application, and firing in surprising ways. This can result in minor differences in the surface of the ceramic pieces. And, since the applied decoration (slip trailing or carving texture) comes from the artist’s hand and not a machine, the resulting design is never a mirror image. 

At Lume Home we view these gestures as adding value to our lamps by revealing that they are more than just a mass-produced product; they are an object grown out of natural materials and the handmade process. They are in fact, a handmade object’s fingerprint.