California studio Brave Matter has used simple forms and earthy materials to create lighting fixtures and tableware that are meant to evoke ancient artefacts.
The Archaic Modern Light collection ? presented at this year's NYCxDesign festival ? consists of three luminaries, all made of ceramic, Himalayan pink salt and brass. The designs reference the "materials, archetypes and technologies from the remote past".

The A/M Orb Pendant features a terraced, globe-shaped ceramic shade topped with a brass disk and a rounded chunk of pink salt. The salt is affixed to a slender, spun-and-woven brass rod. The A/M Pendant Small is similarly constructed, although its has a trapezoidal shade resembling an upside-down plant pot.
The bottom of the shade is uncovered, allowing the pendant to serve as a task light. The glowing block of salt in the upper portion of the fixture delivers ambient light. "Himalayan pink salt serves as a light diffusing material in juxtaposition to high-lumen LED technology," said Brave Matter.

The shades are made of mineral-rich clay cast in molds, and then coated with mica-laden glazes available in several hues, from moss and red ochre to terra pink. The glazes are intended to produce "soft, glimmering and time-worn surfaces".
The third design in the collection, Sender One, is a table lamp constructed from a salt crystal that has been carefully honed and then pierced by a brass rod. The salt disc and metal rod work in tandem to a...