Remodelista Reconaissance: Sculptural Table Lamps Made From Scrap Paper

An otherworldly table lamp keeps catching our attention. Curved and plant-like, it’s made from a material reminiscent of plaster. After spotting the design in chic settings in France over the last two years, we had to find out more.

The Sightings

the lamp first appeared in the merci department store’s showcase ap 14 — Above: The lamp first appeared in the Merci department store’s showcase apartment: see Lessons in Mixing and Matching: Merci Reinvents an 18th Century a Family Home in the 5ème. Photograph courtesy of Merci.

Above: Recently, the light cropped up in artist Heather Chontos’s 17th century Barn Studio in Southwest France. She told us she bought it in Morocco from a French artisan named Henri Dejeant. Photograph by Heather Chontos.

another henri dejeant lamp stands bedside in heather chontos’s ston 16 — Above: Another Henri Dejeant lamp stands bedside in Heather Chontos’s Stone Farmhouse. Photograph by Heather Chontos.

The Source

henri dejeant started making his lamps more than a decade ago while running a h 17 — Above: Henri Dejeant started making his lamps more than a decade ago while running a hotel in a Berber village in southern Morocco with his cousin. Inspired by Moroccan craftsmanship and upcycling practices, he began experimenting with scrap paper and developed his own moldable version of papier maché; it was the material that led him to try his hand at lighting design.

Dejeant has since moved back to the south of France, where grew up; his workshop, Henri Atelier, is in the small town of Béziers. He’s been building things since he was a boy—for his 11th birthday, Dejeant received a workbench that he still uses.

henri dejeant table lamp in kraft petite from merci, paris. 18

Dejeant makes his paper creations using his own mix of binders, which include plaster of paris and flour, and finishes them with a combination of waxes. “My goal,” he says, “is to maintain an ecological approach from creation to delivery.”