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By day it is a panel of painted fish. By night, switched on, it becomes a lamp that throws warm colour and soft shadow across the table.
This is Tholu Bommalata, the leather shadow-puppet craft of Andhra Pradesh, rebuilt as a table lamp: painted hide mounted on a frame, wired with a low bulb. The fish were storytelling figures once. Now they light a room.
See specifications for size, material, and bulb.
Keep it away from direct sunlight and moisture to preserve its vibrant colors and delicate craftsmanship. Clean gently with a soft, dry cloth.
Each piece is handcrafted, so slight variations in colour, texture and dimension are natural and celebrate its handmade origin.
A table lamp like this earns its place after sunset. Switch it on and the painted fish light up from within, casting warm colour and soft pattern onto the surface around it. It is an accent light rather than a reading light, so treat it as atmosphere for a corner.
Give it a low, visible surface. A console, a side table, a bedside table, a bookshelf, or a mantel all suit it. Keep the wire tidy and let the lamp sit slightly forward, so the fish face the room. Indoors only.
The bulb matters. Leather is heat-sensitive, so use a low-wattage LED, which stays cool and will not dry or crack the hide over the years. Skip hot incandescent or halogen bulbs. A warm-white LED flatters the natural dye colours best.
It pairs quietly with other handmade things. Set it near a folk painting, a small brass piece, or a leaning stack of books, and let this lamp be the one glowing thing that quietly pulls the whole corner together once the overhead lights go off. Keep it out of direct sun and damp, both of which fade and warp leather. Dust it with a dry, soft cloth, and see specifications for the exact size and bulb type.
Tholu Bommalata did not start as home lighting. It began as shadow theatre. For generations the puppeteers of Andhra Pradesh performed the Ramayana and Mahabharata at night, moving painted leather figures behind a lit cloth screen. When film and television arrived, audiences thinned, and the artisans turned their skill to lamps, wall pieces, and objects for the home.
This table lamp comes out of that shift. The hide is prepared first, traditionally goat or buffalo skin, scraped thin until it turns translucent, then stretched and dried flat. That flat surface is where the fish are drawn and filled in by hand, one after another, in the bright mineral-and-dye palette this craft has carried for generations.
Then the flat art becomes a lamp. This is the real turn. The painted hide is mounted onto a frame that gives it shape and a standing form, then fitted with a base, a bulb holder, and a wire. What was a two-dimensional panel is now a three-dimensional object you can switch on.
The finish is practical. Because leather cannot take much heat, the lamp is built for a cool, low-wattage bulb rather than a hot one, so it can glow night after night without harm. For the exact hide, dimensions, and bulb of this piece, see the specifications. The craft today centres on Nimmalakunta, in Andhra Pradesh.
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Leather Puppetry is a traditional craft from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, where painted goat or deer hide is transformed into intricate puppets depicting nature and mythology for vibrant folk performances.
