Acquatinta Murano Glass Pendant by Produzione Privata

Acquatinta Murano Glass Pendant by Produzione Privata — one piece of mouth-blown Murano glass that holds its own bulb, a 1996 classic by Michele De Lucchi.

Designed in Milan, made by hand in Italy.

The Design Story

Michele De Lucchi, a leading figure of radical Italian design since the 1970s and a veteran of the Memphis group, founded Produzione Privata with Sibylle Kicherer in 1990 as a place to make objects with complete freedom, away from the logic of mass production. Working with artisan laboratories in glass, ceramics, wood and metal, the studio gives the hand the last word. Its glass is blown on Murano piece by piece, which is why every lamp is a sibling, never a twin.

Meet the Designer

Architect, designer and sculptor, De Lucchi pairs commissions for major manufacturers and buildings worldwide with a private inquiry into how craft and technology meet. Produzione Privata is the outlet for that inquiry; he says his best ideas come from unexpected mixes of cultural, technical, scientific and artistic viewpoints. Since 2004 he has carved small wooden architectural models by hand to test the bare essentials of form.

The workshops behind the label have run since 1990 and move freely between glass, stone, wood, ceramics and metal, always starting with the human hand. Museums have taken note: the Centre Pompidou in Paris holds a prototype and two designs of his Macchina Minima N°7 lamp, and the Groninger Museum in the Netherlands keeps one of his decorated vases. His guiding idea is that space does not define objects; objects define space.

Why You’ll Love It

The Acquatinta is a lesson in restraint: one piece of blown glass, shaped so it holds the bulb itself, with nothing else to look at. The silver transmirror version adds a twist, a mirror that reflects the room by day and dissolves into a soft glow at night. Because every piece is mouth-blown, yours carries the slight individuality of a craftsman’s hand. Hang one over a reading chair or line up three over a long table.

Made for Real Life

An electrician fits the chrome canopy to the ceiling box; after that it asks for little more than a gentle dusting. The black, white and green glasses share the same form, and the wall version is the Acquaparete Murano Glass Wall Light by Produzione Privata; the small pendant is the Acquamiki Diamond Mini Pendant by Produzione Privata.

Product Details

Where It Shines

Above a kitchen island in a row, over a round dining table, in a stairwell, or low beside a bed.

Questions We Hear Most

Where does the name Acquatinta come from?

From the coloured waters around the glassblowers’ furnaces on Murano, the island where the lamp was first produced.

How does the silver transmirror glass on the Acquatinta behave day and night?

Off, it is a polished silver mirror that reflects the room. On, it becomes partly see-through and glows from within, a small daily transformation.

Which bulb suits the Acquatinta?

An E12 candelabra bulb of up to 60 W; a warm LED gives the nicest glow through the glass.

What are the Acquatinta’s measurements in centimetres?

The diffuser is 22 cm wide and 21 cm high, the canopy 12 cm across and 4 cm deep, the cable 150 cm (180 cm on Green Glass), and it weighs 1.9 kg.

Are all Acquatinta pendants identical?

No two are: each is blown individually, so they are siblings rather than twins, which is exactly the point of hand-blown glass.

Does the Acquatinta have a family?

Yes: the Acquamiki is its smaller pendant sibling and the Acquaparete its wall version, so you can carry one shape through a home.

For the Trade

Specifying lights for a client’s home, a restaurant or a boutique hotel? Members of the LoftModern Trade Program (interior designers, architects, contractors, builders, home stagers and commercial buyers) receive trade pricing, up to 20% off retail on eligible brands, plus round-the-clock concierge support for stock checks and lead times. Apply once with your business details; we reply by email with your account.

Why We Love It

Thirty years on, it still says more with less than almost any pendant we know.

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