Chinese Palace Lantern

[xinbei]

I recently finished a LEGO Chinese Palace Lantern:

They are six sided, ornate lanterns, embedded with painted silk or glass panes. These lanterns appeared under the Ming Dynasty and, at first, were only used at the imperial palace. However, later these became quite popular among the general population of the city. People placed them in their houses as luxurious items. Colored lanterns were hung outdoors in order to bring luck to the household and ward off evil spirits. Nowadays, however, the Chinese prefer modern decorations and the demand for palace lanterns has decreased dramatically. These lanterns may be seen mostly during Chinese festivals and in temples.

It is based on the following styles of real palace lanterns:

It is a relatively fragile model, so I am not able to hang it from the top. I instead use a rotational display stand to show different sides in a very slow rotational motion

. Unfortunately, there are not enough types of clear plates and tiles for me to make the six sides clear and let the light out.

More pictures of the other sides of the palace lantern could be seen here:

https://www.flickr.c...157668269472220

Edited May 30, 2016 by xinbei

[Borex]

Beautiful

[hisamk]

I like the butterfly

[murphy_slaw]

I really like how you've taken the 2d patterns on the lamp and made them into 3d reliefs in the Lego version. The tassels are also very convincing for such a simple construction!

Edited June 1, 2016 by murphy_slaw

[xinbei]

Thanks! The 2D patterns on the real lanterns are way more sophisticated than the Lego version. If I could double the size of the lantern, I will be able to present more details.

[Gunman]

Hey... the design is really great.... close to the real thing I really like all the different kinds of plant decorations.

[Dazz]

This is a beautiful reproduction of the real thing. Thanks for sharing.

[LegoManTroy]

Really cool. where is that picture from with all the lanterns?

[77ncaachamps]

I recently finished a LEGO Chinese Palace Lantern:

It is based on the following styles of real palace lanterns:

It is a relatively fragile model, so I am not able to hang it from the top. I instead use a rotational display stand to show different sides in a very slow rotational motion

. Unfortunately, there are not enough types of clear plates and tiles for me to make the six sides clear and let the light out.

More pictures of the other sides of the palace lantern could be seen here:

https://www.flickr.c...157668269472220

Stunning! I would love to recreate it as a hanging lantern.