The Herb-Wife - Illuminated (inc. base lamp)

Clara "Lady Lovage" Conquest

Available for Pre-order. Despatched on spring equinox - 20th March.

Limited Edition of 250 illuminated Spring Equinox ghosts.

Clara Conquest drove her sturdy market pony and two-wheeled cart the nine miles from Reach to Cambridge every spring morning before dawn, the cart laden with baskets of the first tender herbs and wildflowers emerging from the still-frozen fen. To Cambridge's housewives and apothecaries, she was "Lady Lovage" - an affectionate nickname earned from her famous stomach cordial that settled even the worst colic and flatulence, its pleasing aromatic scent making the medicine go down easily. Her knowledge, passed down through generations of Conquest women who had gathered from the Reach fens since the Romans built their lode, made her welcome in Cambridge kitchens each spring. She sold cheerful bundles of primroses and early daffodils at the market, her white apron always stained green from handling fresh herbs, and accepted copper coins or fresh bread with equal gratitude. The working folk trusted her completely, and she charged them honestly for her healing knowledge. Many remarked how well she'd done for herself - not many herb-wives could afford to keep a pony and cart.

But Clara kept a locked wooden box beneath her cottage floorboards that explained her prosperity. Inside lay a hodgepodge of treasures - a silver spoon stamped with a College crest, a lady's silk handkerchief embroidered with initials, a gentleman's gold watch chain, many coins of surprising denominations, and even a pair of emerald earrings. These weren't payment for primroses. Cambridge's bored students - wealthy young men killing time before inheriting their estates - sought her for the fen's darker gifts: the liberty cap mushrooms that grew in autumn pastures, the henbane that brought visions and wild dreams, the ergot-touched rye that opened doors in the mind. She rarely charged them money - "Just bring me something pretty," she'd say with a wink, and they'd return with whatever glittered and wouldn't be immediately missed. Artists and poets sought her preparations to fuel their creativity, spiritualists claimed her mushroom teas helped them see beyond the veil, and more than one Trinity student credited his most brilliant philosophical insight to an evening spent under Clara's botanical influence.

Those who keep Clara's ghost report that houseplants either thrive spectacularly or wither mysteriously depending on the owner's intentions, that the scent of wild mushrooms occasionally wafts through rooms even in summer's heat, and that small objects sometimes go missing only to reappear weeks later in different locations - as if Clara is still conducting her ancient barter system from beyond the grave, her phantom pony's hoofbeats occasionally heard in the pre-dawn hours of early spring.

BASE LAMP INCLUDED - 16 colours available at the touch of a button with remote control, controlling colour and solid/fade or flashing modes.

The wooden lamp holder is equipped with a USB cable with a button switch and can be connected to computers, mobile phone charger, or to the mains via an adaptor (not supplied) etc.

2.8 x 2.8 inch/ 70 x 70 mm wooden base