Curiousa & Curiousa’s Design Director Esther Patterson set up the brand a decade ago, with several key milestones along the way that has shaped the business.
We never thought that our 10 Year Anniversary at Curiousa & Curiousa would turn out the way it has under the influence of Covid19 globally. That said, the brand has evolved through many changes along the way, and we are now open again for business, creating quotes and designing commissions even though delivery and installation has been temporarily on hold.
Our summer party plans have been delayed, but we wanted to celebrate our journey nevertheless by showing some of key milestones and turning points we’ve reached over the years since Esther started the business in 2010.
We thought we’d let our images speak for themselves, so scroll on and take a look at some pieces from our collections that have been really important to us over the years.
The Tassel Light shown here was designed as a response to a collaboration with “Tassel Queen” Jessica Light, who Esther met in 2010 at London Design Week.
An early important ‘milestone’ piece for us was when Esther collaborated with Jessica Light. She met Jessica at London Design Week in 2010 and has worked with her ever since.
She hand-makes these beautiful tassels with dip-dyed ends (pictured above), which was paired with a Classic Teardrop to create the Tassel Light pendant. The addition of this wonderfully opulent material added a new dimension to what we could achieve in Esther’s designs.
Experimentation with combining wood and glass resulted in the Lotus Dine Light pictured here.
In Curiousa & Curiousa’s early years, Esther soon began experimenting with combinations of wood and glass, creating beautiful designs and textures resulting in lighting designs such as the Lotus Dine Light.
“I’m instinctively drawn to pure materials such as the combination of wood and glass – they make a beautiful partnership”, says Esther of this design.
Each light can be totally customised with different glass colour options to create a design unique to your interior.
The Tiger Lily Chandelier pictured here is one of Esther’s favourite chandeliers, created in collaboration with her friend Isabel Cordero, who had commissioned the piece.
The 23 colour options in the rapidly expanding range of individual lights and shapes, lent itself to starting to play with colour and layering of glass to produce designs such as the Orb Modern and Dine Light pictured here.
The Dine Light pictured to the right above, was inspired by the classic silhouette of the Louis Poulsen light, first spotted by designer Esther whilst watching an episode of the Scandinavian noir-thriller “The Killing”.
See the Orb Modern on our website: https://www.curiousa.co.uk/orb-modern
And the Lotus Dine light: https://www.curiousa.co.uk/dine-light
The Siren range of wall lights are wall-mounted – and sometimes ceiling mounted! - glass and bone china pieces that look as effective as singular focus pieces as they do when arranged in groups.
The Siren range of wall lights are an eclectic collection of glass and bone china pieces in an almost endless combination of colours, finishes and sizes that marries two materials Esther loves working with most – glass and china.
As Esther first started her collection back in 2010 using bone china pieces she’d slip-cast herself, it felt only natural to later use gold lustre bone china plates in combination with hand blown glass.
“We’re based in the Midlands, which has a fascinating heritage of china tableware; and we’ve noticed there’s a feeling of rebirth within this industry and a real surge of interest in ceramics.”
Experimentation with semi-opaque glass brought a whole new dimension with the gently diffused light they offer, and the Acid Drops were born!
Silk Chinese Lantern statement pieces aren’t just for interior designs!
Working with silk to make the Ume Lantern range has been a departure for Curiousa & Curiousa, best known for hand blown glass lighting design, but has enabled Esther to get back to her roots, working with textiles and print design again.
These lights make a statement hung in interior spaces, and our portable IP45 versions make an even bigger statement outdoors!
Over 70% of Curiousa & Curiousa’s range of lights are available as IP45 compliant versions for use in bathrooms and wet areas.
Esther started working on a new bathroom range back in 2015 and after lots of experimentation, the first pieces were born. Curiousa now offers over 70% of their range as IP45 compliant for bathrooms.
Esther says of the collection, “Back then, lighting for bathrooms were very white and chrome – so I felt that bathroom lighting need a shake-up. With our range on offer, I think we’ve achieved that!”
Take a look at the full range of bathroom lights on the website: https://www.curiousa.co.uk/bathroom-lighting
A trip to the Murano region of Italy yielded a collaboration with Fabio Fornasier, a master glass blower specialising in a mirrored finish. Esther designed the Fabio in ode to this collaboration..
If you would like to talk to us about a bespoke lighting commission then get in touch with us on +44(0) 1629 826284 or email us on studio@curiousa.co.uk. You can download the new brochure to see our full range or take a look at our range right here on the website.