Now ceramic lighting is back on the agenda: this time the focus has shifted to the subtler (and sexier) challenge of diffusing light to create an atmosphere. Lighting now is about producing a modish, design-conscious ambience: in short, a Lifestyle statement. The new lighting solutions are also addressing the problem of the tiresome electric cable and bulb connection – sometimes in serious, sometimes entertaining ways.

Instead of using clay for its heavy and solid properties, the reverse is now the case. Today’s designers are focusing on the lightness, whiteness and translucency of white earthenware or bone china. Light is filtered through perforations, or through the body of the clay itself, or allowed to spill around sculptural forms, or reflect between multiple components such as a chandelier.