DWL Lantern Sizes: H16.5, H25, H29 or H45 cm Compared

Holmegaard makes Maria Berntsen's Design with Light lantern in four heights: 16.5, 25, 29 and 45 cm. They share one shape, so the choice comes down to scale, weight, the candle you want inside and where the lantern will stand. This guide sets the four side by side and explains how each behaves on a table, a windowsill, a step or a sheltered terrace.

One design, four heights

Design with Light, shortened to DWL in the product names, is built around a simple idea: a mouth-blown glass cylinder that shields a flame, carried by a strap of full-grain leather. Berntsen describes it as a mobile light source, and the handle is the detail that makes it one. You pick the lantern up and move it from the kitchen table to the doorstep without thinking about it, which is exactly how candlelight is used in Denmark, where it is a daily habit rather than an occasion.

Holmegaard has blown glass in Denmark since 1825, and the series keeps that craft at the centre. Because each cylinder is blown rather than pressed, the glass is thin and clear, and the flame reads cleanly through it from every side. The lanterns are made in clear glass in all four heights, and in a smoke-coloured version at 16.5, 25 and 29 cm. Clear throws the most light; smoke gives a warmer, more muted glow and looks deliberate even with no candle lit.

The four sizes compared

The figures below come from Holmegaard's own specifications. Holmegaard does not list a diameter or weight for the floor version, so those cells are left open rather than guessed.

Read the diameters as closely as the heights. The step from 16.5 to 25 cm adds 5 cm of width, while the step from 25 to 29 cm adds only 1.5 cm. In practice the H25 and H29 look like close relatives, and the H16.5 looks like a different, more compact object. Weight tells a similar story: the H29 is more than twice as heavy as the H16.5, which matters if the lantern will be carried outside every evening.

Candle size and the volume of glass

The height of the cylinder decides how much of the flame you see and how well it is protected. In the H16.5 cm, a tealight or a short block candle sits low and the rim is close to the flame, so the light spills out over the top as well as through the sides. It is intimate and bright at close range, which suits a dining table where faces are within arm's length.

The taller H25 and H29 hold a block candle with plenty of glass above it. The flame sits deeper in the cylinder, so it is calmer in moving air and the glass glows from within rather than around the top edge. The wider base also gives a pillar candle a steady footing. Measure the candle you already use against the inner opening before you choose, and leave a margin between wax and glass so the heat is not concentrated on one side.

The H45 cm floor lantern works on the same principle at a larger scale. With that much height, the flame becomes a point of light inside a tall column of glass, and it reads as a piece of furniture more than a table accessory.

Indoors or on a sheltered terrace

Holmegaard presents the series as a lantern for the whole year: summer evenings on the patio, the table, the stairs and the window, and at Christmas filled around the base with cones, fir and cinnamon sticks. Indoors, all four sizes are at home. The DWL Lantern H16.5 cm clear is the most flexible here, small enough for a windowsill or a crowded table, and light enough to pass across it.

Outdoors, height and weight are what help. The taller cylinders of the DWL Lantern H25 cm clear and the DWL Lantern H29 cm clear keep a flame out of a breeze far better than the short one, and the heavier glass is less likely to be nudged over on a table. Keep any lantern sheltered, under a canopy or against a wall, rather than in open rain or wind, since the leather strap is a natural material and the glass is thin. Bring them in after use. The glass is not dishwasher safe; wash it by hand and dry it straight away to keep it clear.

Grouping lanterns on a step or a table

The lanterns are designed to stand alone or together, and the size range is where grouping gets interesting. A few principles hold up well:

• Mix two heights, not two neighbours. Pair the H16.5 with the H29 rather than the H25 with the H29. Because those two are so close in diameter, together they can look like a near miss; the small and the tall read as a clear, intentional pair.
• Use odd numbers on a table. Three lanterns in descending height along a dining table or sideboard give a line of light that looks planned without looking staged.
• Stagger on steps. On a flight of stairs or a doorstep, place the tallest lantern at the bottom and step down in size as you go up. The eye travels with the light, and the group feels balanced from the path.
• Combine clear and smoke. A smoke-coloured lantern beside a clear one of the same height adds depth without adding a new shape.

The DWL Lantern H45 cm clear is best treated as the anchor of a floor-level group, beside a front door or at the end of a bench, with one or two table sizes set on a step above it.

Related pieces and how to choose

The same series includes candle holders without the tall cylinder. The DWL Block candle holder H4.5 in clear glass measures 20 cm wide and Ø17 cm and weighs 0.69 kg, a low piece that suits a block candle on a table. The DWL Chamber candle holder, Ø16 cm, is another compact companion for the table. Both share the lanterns' glass, so they sit comfortably beside them in a group.

If you are choosing only one lantern, the decision is simpler than the range suggests. Choose the H16.5 cm for tables and windowsills indoors. Choose the H25 cm if you want one lantern that works both inside and on a sheltered terrace. Choose the H29 cm if it will live mostly outdoors or on the floor of a hallway, where the extra height and weight help. Choose the H45 cm when you want the lantern to hold a corner on its own.

To see the lanterns alongside tealight holders, candlesticks and block-candle holders in porcelain and glass, browse the full Candleholders collection.