The Ashoka table lamp is an early Ettore Sottsass lighting masterwork for the introductory 1981 MEMPHIS collection as iconoclastic a light/sculpture as you'll find anywhere!!
 
With various light sources protruding everywhere from side-to-side, almost Buddha-like in its ephemeral reach, it heralds its namesake "Ashoka the Great", an Indian emperor of the Maurya dynasty, who ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent from circa 268-232 BC.
 
Ettore's love of India began mid-life, when he sought to heal himself from a terminal bacterial disease living there under the watchful eye of a Hindi Shaman, he ultimately regained full vigor, living a very long life.
 
The "infinite" lighting possibilities reflect his endorsement of Buddhist principles in which all of life's essence is "illuminated".