Honestly, they are very close. The small is 15.7″ wide × 63″ tall; the large is 17.7″ wide × 65″ tall. Two inches either way — nobody walking into the room will be able to tell them apart.

So decide on the shade width against the furniture beside it, not on height. Next to a deep sofa or a wide armchair the 17.7″ keeps the proportion; in a narrow corner, an entry, or beside a slim reading chair the 15.7″ sits better. If you genuinely cannot choose, take the smaller one — an under-scaled lamp reads as restrained, an over-scaled one reads as a mistake.

No — it is an ambient lamp. Stone diffuses light in every direction instead of aiming it, so you get a warm even glow with no beam and nothing harsh anywhere.

That suits a corner, a sofa side, or a bedroom. If you read in that chair, pair it with a directional reading light. Expecting one soft stone lamp to do both jobs is how people end up disappointed with it.

No. It plugs into an ordinary socket — nothing to hardwire, nothing to drill, and no permission needed if you rent. There is a foot switch on the cord, so you turn it on with your toe rather than reaching up into the shade. The cord is 59″, which reaches along a wall but not across a room — check where your nearest outlet is, and ask us for a longer cord when you order if you need one.

Not with the foot switch — that is on/off only. And a dimmable bulb on its own does nothing, because there is no dimmer for it to work with. This catches a lot of people out.

Two things do work: an in-line plug-in dimmer between the lamp and the wall, or a smart bulb you dim from your phone. Both are inexpensive, and beside a sofa most people eventually want the option.

Heavy — it is solid stone on a brass disc, not a hollow shade on a metal pole. Ask us for the exact figure if you are carrying it upstairs or standing it on a delicate floor.

Mostly that is good news: it will not be knocked over by a child, a dog or a vacuum cleaner, and it needs no wide sprawling base to stay upright. The trade-off is simply that it is not a lamp you move on a whim — choose the spot and plan to leave it there.

A standard E26 screw bulb, not included — and choose LED. Not for fire safety; stone does not burn. It is about heat.

A filament bulb warms the stone every evening and lets it cool every night, and that repeated expansion and contraction is where hairline cracks start in any natural stone. An LED barely warms it. Pick warm white, 2700–3000K — cool white through alabaster looks grey and drains the warmth out of the brass.

Because the stone is quarried, not moulded. The veining running through your column will be its own — different pattern, different depth of colour, and it will catch the light its own way.

On a piece this large that variation is the first thing anyone notices, and it is exactly what tells you the stone is real. A column that matched the photograph precisely would have to be resin.

No. Natural alabaster is mineral, not plastic — it holds its colour for decades and gives off no odour when warm, which is the usual failing of resin and acrylic imitations. Kept in a dry indoor spot it simply develops a faint patina with the years rather than degrading.

A soft dry cloth on both the stone and the brass. Keep water off the alabaster — it is porous, absorbs it, and leaves a mark that will not buff out.

No sprays, no polish, nothing abrasive. Switch off and let the bulb cool first. Once or twice a year is plenty.

No — indoor dry rooms only. Alabaster is porous, so steam and damp are bad for the stone as well as the wiring. Living rooms, bedrooms, entries and studies are all fine.