> For my light in the lamp I have used a frame. This is causing far too 
harsh
 > shadows, even with radiosity. I don't want to use an area light if 
possible, are
 > there any other options?


Give the lamp shade no_shadow and use two spot lights (one up and one 
down) with soft edges that more or less match the shade. Also use a 
basic dim light source to simulate the light that filters through the shade.

But as clipka said, don't be afraid of area lights. Although this trick 
can help you avoid lots of area light calculations from the lamp shade, 
soft shadowing on all of your objects will look way better than hard 
shadows, and if you use 'adaptive' properly, it really won't hurt your 
render times that much.

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