Vitra Akari 1AY Table Lamp

Manufacturer: Vitra

Designer: Isamu Noguchi

This is an original genuine Vitra piece.

The Akari 1AY is a table lamp of understated elegance. Its washi paper shade produces the warm, diffused glow that defines the Akari series — intimate in scale, considered in form, and quietly compelling in any setting. Designed by Isamu Noguchi in 1951.

Each Akari luminaire is meticulously handcrafted at the Ozeki workshop, a traditional family-run company based in Gifu, Japan. Bamboo rods are stretched across Noguchi's original wooden forms to create the framework, before strips of washi paper — derived from the bark of the mulberry tree — are glued to the bamboo ribbing. Once dry, the wooden form is removed and the shade folded into its final shape.

Every piece carries a stylised sun-and-moon logo — resembling the corresponding Japanese characters — as a guarantee of authenticity.

• Lightsource (not supplied): 4W LED E27
• Max. wattage: 12W
• Part of the Vitra Design Museum Collection