Cords Pendant Light | Blackjack Lighting

Cords strips the pendant back to its working parts: a round canopy, a length of cable and a plain cylindrical socket for the bulb of your choice. There is no shade and no frame. What makes it a design rather than a utility fitting is the way those parts are composed, with one, three, seven or eleven cables falling from a single canopy, each one ready to be dropped straight down or looped across the ceiling on swag hooks.

That freedom is the point. The same fixture can hang as a tight, vertical bundle over a table, or be spread out in long catenary curves so the bulbs land exactly where you want them, like a drawing made with cable. Because the sockets take standard E26 bulbs, the character changes with the lamp you choose: clear filament globes for warmth and sparkle, frosted spheres for softness. Canopy, sockets and cable each come in Matte Black or White, so the lines can stand out against a pale ceiling or almost disappear into it.

Design notes

• Light from the bulb you choose: each socket is a medium E26 for a Type A or decorative bulb, so brightness and color are set by the lamp.
• Line as form: cables up to 240 in long let the pendants hang straight or swag in curves across a room.
• Honest parts: a simple cylindrical socket, 1.6 in (4.1 cm) by 2.86 in (7.3 cm), and a slim round canopy, nothing added.
• Four configurations: 1 or 3 pendants on a 5 in canopy, 7 or 11 pendants on a 10 in canopy.
• Two-tone finishes: socket and canopy in Matte Black or White, with a separate choice of black or white cable.

Specifications

Downloads

• Cords 1-light specification sheet (PDF)
• Cords 3-light specification sheet (PDF)
• Cords 7-light specification sheet (PDF)
• Cords 11-light specification sheet (PDF)
• Cords 1-light installation instructions (PDF)
• Cords 3-light installation instructions (PDF)
• Cords 7-light installation instructions (PDF)
• Cords 11-light installation instructions (PDF)

Stephen Blackman and Blackjack Lighting

Blackjack Lighting is the studio of industrial designer Stephen Blackman, its President and Chief Design Officer. Trained in industrial design at Syracuse University, Blackman began his lighting career in 1984 at Sonneman Design Group, then founded Blackman Design Associates in 1988, designing decorative and architectural lighting for manufacturers including Kichler. He launched Blackjack in 2013 in suburban Chicago, now based in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, to build fixtures conceived for LED from the first sketch.

His argument is that the LED should change the shape of a light, not just its efficiency. Rather than hiding a new source inside old bulb-and-shade forms, Blackjack designs around the small, flat, cool-running LED: thin discs, slim rods, glowing rings and lenses that let the light itself become the object. In his own words, "Decorative lighting by its nature is not primarily about optimizing lamp efficiency, it is primarily about decoration!" Cords applies the same thinking from another angle: with the shade gone, the bulb and the line of the cable become the whole decoration.

Questions

What is the idea behind Cords?

To make a pendant out of nothing but cable, socket and canopy. The composition comes from how the cables are hung, straight down as a cluster or swagged across the ceiling, and from the bulbs you choose.

Who is behind Blackjack Lighting?

Industrial designer Stephen Blackman, President and Chief Design Officer, who has designed lighting since 1984 and founded Blackjack in 2013 in the Chicago suburbs.

How do I choose the number of pendants and the finish?

One or three sockets suit a single table, bedside or corner; seven or eleven make a statement cluster or a web of swags across a larger room. Black sockets and cable read as graphic lines; white ones fade into a white ceiling so only the bulbs stand out.

How bright is it, and can it be dimmed?

Brightness depends on the E26 bulbs you fit, up to 14 W LED per socket on the 1- and 3-light and 12 W LED on the 7- and 11-light. Use dimmable bulbs with a compatible wall dimmer if you want dimming.

What warranty does it carry?

One year on materials and workmanship, for the original buyer in the US and Canada. Bulbs are not included.