Mushroom Pendant Light | Blackjack Lighting

Mushroom is a small pendant with a sense of humor and a serious optical idea. Beneath a slim cylindrical socket sits a rounded cap of clear cast acrylic, just 2.5 inches across and under an inch deep, its soft profile recalling a mushroom or a drop of water about to fall. Inside the acrylic, a mushroom form has been laser-etched, invisible until the light comes on.

The acrylic works as a light guide. The LED in the socket sends light down into the cap, where it travels through the solid material and catches on the etched lines, so the cap glows from within and the bottom rim reads as a bright ring. The effect is jewel-like: a small, precise object that glimmers rather than floods. One alone makes a quiet accent beside a bed or over a counter; a dozen hung at different heights becomes a constellation, as in the maker's own installations over long lounges and bars. The socket finish sets the tone: Matte Black, White or Polished Chrome.

Design notes

• Etched in light: a laser-etched mushroom inside the cast acrylic appears only when lit.
• Light guide optics: the LED lives in the socket and the acrylic carries its light, so no source is visible.
• Small, soft form: a 2.5 in (6.4 cm) rounded cap under a 2 in (5.1 cm) socket, scaled to be grouped freely.
• Quality of light: 133 lumens at 3000K and 90 CRI, a warm glimmer for accent and ambience.
• Finish as accent: Matte Black, White or Polished Chrome socket with clear acrylic in every version.

Specifications

Downloads

• Mushroom specification sheet (PDF)
• Light guide pendant installation instructions (PDF)
• Light guide pendant LM-79 photometric report (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!" Mushroom brings that view down to jewel scale: a small lens of etched acrylic that becomes visible only when the LED lights it.

Questions

How does the etched mushroom appear?

Light from the LED in the socket travels into the clear acrylic cap and scatters where the mushroom has been laser-etched, so the drawing and the rim of the cap glow while the rest stays clear.

Which Blackjack collection is it from?

Mushroom is one of Blackjack's Spec Series light guide pendants, a family of small acrylic forms that share sockets, canopies and mounting options.

Which socket finish should I pick?

Matte Black gives the clearest silhouette against pale ceilings and timber; White recedes into light rooms; Polished Chrome reflects the surroundings and adds sparkle to groups.

What is the light like, and does it dim?

A soft 133-lumen glow at 3000K and 90 CRI, intended as accent light and at its best in clusters. The driver in the 5 in canopy supports TRIAC, ELV and 0-10V dimming.

What warranty does it carry?

Three years on the integrated LED and its power supply, and one year on materials and workmanship, for the original buyer in the US and Canada.