Vakkerlimited · Design Notes

The Ceramic Ginkgo Leaf Chandelier

A branching porcelain-leaf pendant that scales from a 47-inch dining fixture to a 31-foot atrium centerpiece — here’s how to spec it.

Hey there, design lovers. Every so often a fixture comes off our line in Jiangmen that stops people in the workshop, and this is one of them. The Ceramic Ginkgo Leaf Chandelier reads as a small tree caught mid-bloom: matte ceramic leaves clustered along branching metal stems, hung on steel cables so thin they disappear against the ceiling.

If you’ve been circling heavy crystal or smoked-glass fixtures and finding them too loud for a Japandi or organic modern room, this is the alternative. Grab a coffee — let’s go through the design, the sizing math, and the questions we get asked most.

Section 01

Botanical form, architectural discipline

The shape comes straight from the fan-shaped leaf of the ginkgo tree — wide at the top, notched at the centre, tapering to a fine stem. We kept that silhouette literal in the ceramic and let the metalwork do the opposite job: the stems branch on measured angles, closer to Art Deco than to anything freehand.

That tension is what keeps the piece from tipping into kitsch. The leaves are organic; the armature underneath them is drawn with a ruler. Cluster spacing is set so the leaves overlap in layers rather than sitting in a flat plane, which is what gives the fixture depth when you walk past it.

Section 02

Why the ceramic is matte, not glossy

This is the part buyers usually don’t expect. A glossy ceramic leaf bounces light off its surface and throws hot spots onto the ceiling. Ours are hand-finished to a matte, slightly translucent body instead, so light passes through the leaf and comes out diffused.

The practical result: each leaf shifts between warm cream and pale gold depending on where you’re standing, and the fixture gives you soft ambient fill rather than glare. Over a dining table that means faces stay lit and nobody squints across the centrepiece.

Section 03

Seven sizes, and how to pick one

Because the chandelier reads as a floating object rather than a solid mass, it scales further than most fixtures do. We build seven standard spans. Imperial first, metric in brackets.

The two largest spans are multi-cluster builds and ship as sub-assemblies. Custom dimensions are made to drawing — send us the ceiling section and we’ll size it to the void.

Three hanging rules worth following

• Over a table: leave 30–36″ (76–91 cm) between the tabletop and the lowest leaf, so sightlines across the table stay clear.
• Over open floor: keep at least 7′ (213 cm) of head clearance in any walkway. In a foyer, hang the fixture so it sits fully in the upper third of the volume.
• Table coverage: aim for a span roughly half to two-thirds the length of the table. A 47″ fixture over a 96″ table will look stranded.

Section 04

Three standard finishes

The leaves stay white across all three — the matte ceramic is what softens the hardware, so we don’t let the metal compete with it. Pick the body finish against your metal package.

Need a bespoke finish to match a brand standard or a client’s spec sheet? Send the colour reference to our team and we’ll sample it. Request a custom finish sample →

Section 05

Myth-busting: “Isn’t ceramic a nightmare to live with?”

On transit: leaves ship separately from the frame in moulded, export-grade cartons and mount on site — which is also why the fixture arrives as a kit rather than assembled. Budget an installer for the larger spans; the 47″ and 59″ sizes are a two-person job.

On cleaning: matte ceramic doesn’t hold fingerprints or water spots the way glossy glass does. A dry microfibre duster along the top faces every few weeks is enough. For a deeper clean, a vacuum with the soft brush head on the lowest setting works; skip the glass sprays and anything ammonia-based, which dulls the surface.

One thing to expect: each leaf is hand-finished, so slight variation in tone and surface texture between leaves is inherent to the process, not a defect. That variation is what makes the cluster look grown rather than moulded.

Section 06

What working factory-direct actually gets you

We build in Jiangmen, Guangdong — the district most of China’s decorative lighting comes out of. Buying from the floor rather than through a distributor changes a few concrete things for trade partners:

• OEM / ODM production on your own drawings or ours, with the tooling held on file for reorders.
• 3D prototyping before commitment, so you can put a rendered fixture in front of a client at spec stage.
• Low MOQs for trade accounts — single-unit sampling on standard sizes.
• Reinforced export packing and worldwide freight, with the ceramic crated separately.

So — dining room, stairwell, or hotel lobby? Tell us in the comments where you’d hang it.