Spanish Alabaster Multi-Light Pendant | 3 or 5 Brass Heads

Spanish alabaster in a multi-light pendant

This pendant hangs three or five alabaster globes from a brass frame, each shade cut from a single block of imported Spanish alabaster. The stone is translucent, so the light does not sit behind the shade, it passes through it, and the veining in the alabaster shows as the warm glow moves across it.

Over a dining table or a kitchen island, the effect is a row of soft, individual lights rather than one hard source.

Three heads or five

Match the run of lights to the run of the table. A five head pendant over a four seat table overwhelms it; a three head over a long island leaves the ends dark.

Specification

Every alabaster shade is different

Alabaster is a natural stone, so the veining and the exact shade of white vary from piece to piece. Two globes on the same pendant will not match perfectly, and that is the material behaving as it should rather than a fault. It is why the pendant reads as handmade rather than moulded.

Hang it at the right height

Over a table or island, leave 30 to 36 inches between the bottom of the shades and the surface. High enough to clear sightlines across the table, low enough that the light pools where people sit. The 59 inch wire is cut to length on installation.

Warm bulbs, kept low

Alabaster looks right with a warm 2700K bulb behind it. A cool white fights the honey tone of the stone. The G9 sockets take small bulbs, and a dimmer is worth adding so the pendant can drop to a glow for dinner.

Installation

Hardwired to a ceiling box and fitted by a licensed electrician. The fixture is heavy once assembled, so the box must be rated for the load.

Related

For a single alabaster pendant see our alabaster pendant lights. For the bulbs, see G9 bulbs.