Meet the maker

Hi, I'm Perry. I build every lamp myself.

Twenty years editing a newspaper, thirty collecting old maps, and one workbench in Asheville. Every shade starts as a sea chart, star atlas or explorer's map that I print, laminate and wire by hand, then leave lit for a full evening before it ships to you.

Shop the lamps Watch me work

Why maps, and why lamps

I spent twenty years editing a newspaper and thirty collecting old maps. The maps lived in a flat file drawer, which is a sad place for a sea monster. One winter I put a chart of the Caribbean in front of a bulb to read the coastline, and the whole room turned the color of old paper. That was the first shade.

A map in a drawer is a list of places. A map with light behind it is a window.

Perry White

Every lamp is still built at one bench in Asheville: the map printed on archival paper, the shade rolled by hand, the base turned or thrown nearby, the wiring done and tested by me. If you want to see how, the photos below are the workshop as it really looks most days.