A Timeless History
Almost every culture has its pierced lantern — the paper andon in Japan, the fanous of pierced metal and glass in Egypt, the paper lantern in China. The ceramic one in this picture was made in Syria, probably at Raqqa, in the early thirteenth century, its quatrefoil openings cut through the clay before glazing. All of them take a hard point of light and break it into a pattern.
SourceThe Metropolitan Museum of Art — metmuseum.org · Victoria and Albert Museum — vam.ac.uk
Science In Action
Load path — the weight on the top ring travels down the solid wood of each upright into the base disc • Stiffness from shape — a folded or curved panel resists bending far better than a flat one of the same weight • Hoop — the ring ties all ten uprights together, so no single one can splay outwards on its own • Aperture — the size and spacing of the openings decide the pattern the light throws
SourceVictoria and Albert Museum, design collection — vam.ac.uk
Arts
The Japanese stone tōrō stands beside garden paths and temple approaches, lighting the way rather than the viewer. Isamu Noguchi took the paper lantern into modern design in 1951, when he began his Akari lights in Gifu, Japan, with washi paper over bamboo ribs. The idea is the same: the object matters less than what it does to the room.
SourceThe Noguchi Museum — noguchi.org · The Metropolitan Museum of Art — metmuseum.org
Applications Today
Lightening a structure by cutting holes where the load does not go is standard practice in aircraft wing ribs like these, in bicycle frames and in 3D-printed brackets. Software now finds the pattern; the principle is the one a lantern maker used by eye.
SourceVictoria and Albert Museum — vam.ac.uk · Encyclopaedia Britannica — britannica.com
The word lantern comes, through Latin, from the Greek lampein, to shine.
Ceramic Lantern (pierced stonepaste, underglaze blue and lustre, with quatrefoil openings) — Unknown maker, Syria, probably Raqqa — early 13th century — The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York — Islamic Art — 91.1.138 (Edward C. Moore Collection, Bequest of Edward C. Moore, 1891)
