A lamp-maker from centuries past would find much to recognise in our Marrakech brass atelier: our use of hand-drawn floral, geometric and calligraphic patterns; the patient piercing of thousands of tiny guide holes; the dextrous use of a jeweller’s saw to widen and shape each hole; and the uniform precision of the detailing etched onto the surface of the metal.
He would also approve of our use of a thicker gauge of brass; the skill with which our maalem hammer and beat the metal into shape; and our insistence on soldering the sections of the lamp together with silver for additional structural integrity. Truly, he would say, these are lamps fit for a sultan.