Source: Pinterest
In the
hollow Lotos-land to live and lie reclined
On the
hills like Gods together, careless of mankind.
--Tennyson,
"The Lotos-Eaters"
In the past, I've seen lotuses depicted in traditional paintings, such as this...
Source: artchive.com
...and also in outdoor displays, to great effect
But now, lotuses have become the inspiration for interior design, spanning a range from highly traditional woodworking designs to stylized, modern depictions. Although they belong to different aesthetics, what I love is that you can see how each piece uses the lotus as its inspiration--sometimes literally replicating the flower, but often also alluding to it in a subtler way.
On the more traditional end are some truly stunning teak wood lotus panels that are hand-crafted in South East Asia. Look at how these artists have cleverly reimagined the lotus flower into a mandala, making a play on the way the petals spiral outward into a lattice-like framework. They capture the geometric and sensuous quality of the flower, freezing it for posterity.
Sources: karmajello.com, kanthaidecor.com
The nice thing is that you don't have to travel to Thailand to nab one of these panels (though why wouldn't you want to go anyway?). Overstock, Rakuten, and Bellacor all carry them in stock, and as a result, they're increasingly spring up in the home--particularly as bed frames, and on one clever occasion, as the base for a lamp.
Sources: Pinterest, nongnit.com
On that note, table lamps are another area in which the lotus is flowering (had to say it!). There are some very literal uses:
Sources: Pinterest, World Market
As well as some gorgeous lamps that play upon the lotus flower's elegant, cup-like shape. To my mind, these (especially the pendant lamps) come closest to replicating a flower's delicacy and grace.
Sources: Pinterest, Etsy
Further along the spectrum are decorative elements that allude to the lotus flower, or that heavily stylize its petals. Some of these are incredibly imaginative (see the two vases below), and what I adore in particular is how they produce a truly tactile sensation, as though you could simulate stroking a lotus petal. It's the world of flora, sculpted in metals and ceramics.
Sources: Pinterest (antique vase, celadon craquele vase made in Korea), Etsy.
At the far end of the design spectrum are even more modern, stylized renderings of the lotus. The pieces I'll point you to don't even attempt to recreate the flower; instead, they reduce it to its elements and flatten these onto a two-dimensional plane. What you get, as a result, is an evocation of the lotus rather than the lotus itself.
Sources: Farrow and Ball, DecorPard, Catherine Holm
Somehow I can't help but find these last few design concepts pretty spectacular. True, they are extremely stylized. But they've taken the lotus' grace and beauty, and fashioned something new into being...not unlike the teak panels that began this post. You don't buy these pieces because you like lotus flowers. You buy them because of their cleverness, because they were designed with nature in mind but were fashioned into something original--into art.
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