Sometimes when I discover something made by hand like this lamp base, I end up imagining a story about it, wondering about who made it, or why. So, in my imagined story about this lamp base, it is someones woodworking project. Not the first project that they have made, because if it were their first project, it would be a lot more primitive. Think "kid's ceramic art" and you'll know what I mean.
Actually, I have to admit that something that I have secretly started collecting is... ....children's ceramics projects. All those lumpy and misshapen pots and bowls that the kids make and then bring home and give to their moms and dads. Sometimes the parents are as great about being the recipient of the gift as my dad was. Because, as far as I know, he's STILL got the lumpy, thick-walled, rose pink glazed, ceramic basket, complete with a twisty ceramic handle, which I made in Kindergarten for him long ago. He keeps it on his dresser for collecting up loose change and such.
The basket was made using a very traditional "coiled snake" method of construction, where you roll the clay out into a long, long rope (a.k.a. snake, to any 5-year-old kid), and then wind the snake up around itself into a spiral to create your bowl. In my case, I then decided I should make a second, shorter snake, and form it into a handle and attach it to the bowl shaped piece, so that I could have a basket instead. Did I mention that this lovely item was created by me more than 40 years ago by now? Well, it's true, and I'm pretty sure that my Dad still keeps it on his dresser, as he has done ever since I first gave it to him for Father's day, ever so long ago.
And so, occasionally, I discover some kid's ceramic works being sold off at a yard sale, or at flea markets, thrift stores, etc. I seem to have acquired a small collection, because there have been those times when I haven't been able to resist buying a little project made by some kid, that I have simply had to "rescue" from being tossed out. Cute and charming as these things are, though, there's a lovely bowl, one that my daughter made and gave to me when she was very young. This bowl is not just the first piece I collected, but it is also most definitely the finest piece I will ever have in my collection!
But anyhow, back to the lamp. In my imagination, it is a project, perhaps made in a wood shop class by a slightly older and more competent child, possibly in Junior High but probably in High School, and most likely given to Mom as a present.
I'd keep this lamp and take on the rewiring and refurbishing project myself, except that I've learned that I'm not that good at rewiring lamps, as it turns out. More accurately, I just don't enjoy doing it enough to get better, and therefore I never have gotten good at it. Clearly, this project is just not for me! In the hands of the right person, though, the lamp will turn out to be quite a lovely (and unique!) piece of work, I think.
