I · The lineage

A design tribute, honestly stated.

The bubble-lamp form was originated in 1947 by an American mid-century designer working with hand-welded steel wire and a sprayed polymer coating — a technique borrowed from military materials of the period and applied to residential lighting for the first time. The result was one of the most enduring silhouettes in twentieth-century design: a soft translucent bubble, warm and organic, that reads as sculpture during the day and as diffused light at night.

The Perla is a design tribute to that mid-century bubble tradition — not an authentic reproduction of any specific designer's licensed piece, but a faithful reinterpretation of the visual language that made the form iconic. We produce it because the form deserves accessible-priced options, and because the three-bubble cluster arrangement opens compositional possibilities that single bubbles don't. If you require certified-authentic mid-century reproductions, licensed originals are available from &Tradition and Modernica at significantly higher price points.

II · The configurations

Three shapes. Four ways to hang them.

Model A × 3 — Flat pear

15.8"⌀ × 8.7"H · low-profile

Three identical shallow-pear bubbles arranged in a horizontal row. Reads as rhythmic and quiet — best for long dining tables, kitchen islands, and installations where the ceiling doesn't want visual weight. The lowest profile of the three shapes.

Model C × 3 — Round sphere

11.8"⌀ × 11.8"H · balanced

Three identical perfect spheres — the most iconic of the mid-century bubble silhouettes, most instantly recognisable. Balanced proportion works across bedrooms, dining rooms, foyers, and modernist interiors that want a considered fixture without a directional shape signature.

Model D × 3 — Tall pear

11"⌀ × 15.8"H · elongated

Three identical elongated teardrops — the most sculptural of the three shapes, with the strongest vertical presence. Belongs in double-height foyers, staircases, and rooms where the fixture needs to hold vertical space rather than horizontal.

Combo — A + D + C

Mix-match · staggered heights

One of each shape — flat pear, tall pear, sphere — hung at staggered drops for compositional play. The mid-century bubble lamp at its most expressive, and the configuration most-photographed in interior editorial. Belongs in rooms where the fixture is the room's design statement.

III · The material

Polymer-silk. The original technique.

Each Perla shade is built the way mid-century bubble lamps have always been built: a lightweight steel-wire skeleton is hand-welded into the target silhouette, then a polymer-silk material is precision-sprayed layer by layer over the frame until the surface reads as a seamless soft shell. A final protective coating ensures long-term durability, even light diffusion, and colour stability across years of installation.

The material behaves optically like natural silk fabric — light passes through it warmly, without reflection or point-source clarity — but it's more durable than natural silk, more colour-stable, and more resistant to dust and normal indoor conditions. This is the practical trade-off the original bubble-lamp inventors made in 1947, and it remains the correct choice for a fixture meant to last decades in a residential ceiling.

IV · The scale

Shape sizes, and cable length.

Standard 59-inch adjustable hanging cable per shade — each of the three bubbles hangs independently, allowing staggered-drop compositions when installed. Custom cable lengths available at no extra charge for double-height foyers or specific drop-height requirements — write to support@stuberlighting.com with your ceiling-to-floor measurement before ordering.

V · The craft

Considered, throughout.

Bulbs included.

The Perla ships with three E26 warm-white LED bulbs at 2700K — the temperature at which polymer-silk reads warmest and closest to the mid-century atmosphere the form was designed for. Edison-style bulbs are also compatible for a more vintage-industrial reading. Dimmable if you swap to dimmable E26 LEDs and install a compatible triac wall dimmer.

Three independent cables.

Each of the three shades hangs from its own 59-inch adjustable cable, sharing a common ceiling canopy. This is what allows staggered-drop compositions — hang all three at the same level for a rhythmic row, or stagger the drops for the mid-century editorial look. Custom cable lengths on request.

Hand-welded frame.

The steel wire skeleton of each bubble is hand-welded, one at a time, then covered in polymer-silk. This is the technique the form was invented with in 1947 and remains the correct production method — machine-formed frames would not carry the subtle asymmetry that gives each bubble its handcraft signature.

Individual variation.

Each shade is hand-formed with subtle variations in silhouette, surface finish, and light transmission across each unit. Your Perla will be subtly different from photographs and from every other Perla produced. This is the material's signature and the tradition's hallmark.

VI · Where it belongs

Rooms that read the mid-century line.