Paper lamp (a.k.a. Chinese balls)

The oven is not for buns, and very few are those who can afford to spend several hundred euros in a lampDid you know that the bulb in the Spider by Joe Colombo 52?

One of the great Chinese inventionsin addition to gunpowder, are the paper lamps (and we don't mean that as a joke). Let's see, we all like the Castiglione Arc Lampthe Joe Colombothe precious LEDs of Ingo Maurer...

At Chinafor centuries, have been decorating their festivals with little PAPER BAGS in which they introduce a light source. Then a candle, today a light bulb. In a wide variety of sizes and shapes, and with construction methods ranging from a simple paper bag or silk lampshade to sophisticated folding bamboo frames, we are spoilt for choice: floor lamps, table lamps, ceiling lamps, pendant lamps, floating lamps... And most of them for around €20 or €30, maybe less.

From China they spread to all the temples, taverns and festivals of Asia, and from there to here, to all the Chinatowns of the West, where they hang as lanterns on the outside of the establishments as an advertisement, almost always in red, a colour associated with good luck.

Think of the Japanese taverns, the brothels of Amsterdam's Red Light District, the wonderful Taiwan Lantern Festivalwhere thousands of lanterns are thrown into the sky in a spectacular night-time ceremony, or at many Hispanic Christmas celebrations.

These lamps are made from rice flour, so they are non-flammable, very economical and very easy to install. They can also be customised with pieces of paper, a touch of paint or rubber bands. Also known as "Chinese balls"They have filled trillions of student flats, corridors and aisles in Ikea or Leroy Merlin, and flats destined for tourist exploitation, all of them eager to decorate "on the cheap" for four bucks?

What happiness to be able to count on these "Chinese balls", right? (And we repeat, we don't mean it as a joke...).