Hasta La Ideas

Milan 2013: this silver serving set for tea and cake was designed by Dutch studio Scholten & Baijings for Danish silverware and jewellery company Georg Jensen and launched at Spazio Rossana Orlandi last week.

Scholten & Baijings’ Tea with Georg collection for Georg Jensen is based on items used in a traditional Japanese tea ceremony, but with added pieces to incorporate the Dutch designers’ love of coffee.

The collection includes a teapot with a sieve, a teapot warmer, a creamer and a sugar bowl, all made from stainless steel.

There is also a porcelain cup and saucer and a double-walled stainless steel espresso cup and saucer.

The set is completed with light blue porcelain dessert plates, a glossy porcelain cake platter and a cake stand that combines a matt porcelain platter with a stainless steel stand.

The tea set was shown at Spazio Rossana Orlandi, where Slovenian designer Nika Zupanc also presented folding lamps powered by wind-up keys – see all news and products from Milan.

Scholten & Baijings recently designed a range of coloured glassware for Danish brand Hay and last year in Milan the studio launched tableware based on the archives of a Japanese porcelain company.

Last year Danish private equity group Axcel sold the Georg Jensen brand to a Bahrain-based investment bank for $140m.

Photographs are by Scheltens & Abbenes.

Here’s some more information from the designer:

At the invitation of Georg Jensen, Scholten & Baijings designed a Tea & Cake collection entitled ‘Tea with Georg’. The title is a nod to the company’s Danish founder, Georg Jensen.

The collection consists of a stainless steel teapot, tea warmer, porcelain cup and saucer, stainless steel espresso cup and saucer, creamer, sugar bowl, cake stand, cake platter and individual porcelain dessert plates.

The design for this everyday tableware is based on a study conducted into the Japanese tea ceremony, freely interpreted for Western use by Scholten & Baijings. Starting point for the design process is the symbolic value the Japanese attach to the tea ceremony, as well as their love of aesthetics, the appreciation of traditional handicraft and the beauty of the material in general.

The teapot with tea sieve and warmer, executed in stainless steel, form the basis of this collection. The design reflects all the qualities of the Georg Jensen brand: the skilful metalwork, the high degree of precision and the meticulous surface finish.

Aside from being tea enthusiasts, Scholten & Baijings are also passionate about high-quality espresso and cappuccino. That’s why in addition to the porcelain cup and saucer they also designed a special double-walled stainless steel espresso cup with accompanying saucer. The saucer features an exclusive detail: an etched line that runs till the centre of the saucer.

In the case of the porcelain teacup with saucer, the line has been executed in silver and runs through the centre of the saucer. This is a reference to the original ‘Silversmithy’, the workplace of Georg Jensen, renowned for his silver products. By also making use of other materials, such as porcelain and coloured synthetics, and by applying different textures, patterns and colours that are recognizable features of Scholten & Baijings’ signature, ‘Tea with Georg’ forms a perfect family. The pieces also combine attractively with existing services.

In addition to cups and saucers, the collection comprises plates and platters for cakes, savoury titbits, fruit and delicacies. The porcelain plates have been hand decorated with light-blue colour gradients. This makes every plate unique. There are two variations: one version with gradients from inside to outside, and vice versa.

There is a large, matching, high-gloss porcelain cake platter with soft blue colour gradients running from inside to outside. The cake stand, conversely, has a stainless steel foot holding a mat porcelain platter decorated with a fine black grid. For the true tea lover, there is a porcelain teacup that, of course, can also be used for cappuccino. The handle grows thicker as it extends over the cup in a flowing motion.

It is thanks to nearly 400 years of Japanese experience in the manufacture of porcelain and the use of innovative production techniques that this ingenious detail can be produced in series. Scholten & Baijings take pride in this unique collaboration. East literally meets West in this unique project that brings Japan and Denmark together.

The post Tea with Georg by Scholten & Baijings
for Georg Jensen appeared first on Dezeen.

London designer Makiko Nakamura will exhibit a tea set engulfed in flowers and foliage at Tent London during the London Design Festival next month.

Called 100 Years After the Party, the series is inspired by a story Nakamura tells about a tea service left behind at the end of civilisation.

In the story, seeds land on the disintegrating porcelain by chance 100 years later, consuming the pieces in flowers.

Tent London will take place from 22 to 25 September at the Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, London, E1 6QL, UK.

Check out Dezeen’s plans for the London Design Festival here.

Here some more details from Tent London:

Makiko Nakamura is a ceramic artist and designer based in London, and “What a wonderful world!” is a slogan of her creation. She has worked with ceramics in both art and design, making narrative one-off art pieces that have fantasy stories behind them. In addition, she has enjoyed making tableware that focuses on function, form and design. In the both types of works, Makiko combines sophistication and humor.

Anthology of daydream stories – 100 Years After The Party

Makiko creates her works from stories she generated with some inspiration and her works also play a role as media to approach the stories behind them.

One hundred years after the party, all the luxury furniture and ornaments in the room have rotten and moulded, and only porcelain tea set has been left. Gorgeous gold paint on the tea set has been washed away by rain and the tea set was absolutely lonely and miserable.

But on the day, one hundred years after the party, it is nothing short of a miraculous, beautiful bird dropping the seed on the tea set.

Then, leaves and germs come out and flowers bloom on it. The tea set has got a new life and not lonely anymore.

Happily ever after…

See also:

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Five Star Crockery by Judith Montens	Table-Palette by Kiki van Eijk	Ornamented Life by Joana Meroz

American designer Louie Rigano has created a range of teapots that combines mass-produced wooden handles and lids with individual hand-thrown bodies.

The body of the pot is made of unglazed clay and each one will be unique.

The lid of the vessel also forms a cup.

Rigano designed the teapot while living in Japan for a year.

More tableware »

Here are some more details from the designer:

“A series of teapots questioning perfection as an end-goal and exploring the relationships between textures and between mass-production and handmade.

The parts of the teapot that one comes into contact with are streamlined, smooth, and easily mass-produced. The body, however, is handmade and wheel-thrown, unglazed and rough. The unglazed ceramic body is easily capable of becoming well-seasoned after repeated use; which is a prized quality found in old teapots.

The wooden fixtures, which get handled, are able to develop a richly aged surface and patina after repeated use.

The lids, which also serve as teacups, and the handles, both made of oak, are a standard size and shape and can be produced in multiples in industry with ease. The ceramic body is thrown by a potter who simply must make the rim and handle plug the same standard size.

Besides these two requirements, the potter has complete artistic freedom to create the teapot in any shape or dimension.”

I’m originally from New Jersey, though I have been awarded a Fulbright grant and I am currently studying and travelling in Japan for a year.

My focus is on traditional Japanese design philosophy and aesthetics, and their role in modern design and culture. During the course of the year I am designing and fabricating objects that will not only pay homage to Japan’s history, but integrate and rework the precepts of these traditional aesthetics into products designed for mass production in the current age.

This I hope will provide an alternative point of view to the heavily globalized design world. My work deals with pared down ideals. I seek a thoughtful and occasionally humorous meditation on contemporary notions of luxury, utility, and cultural values, conveyed by the most direct and simple means.

See also:

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Tea pot by Lee West for Eno	Tea pot by Designerette	Tea pot by Patrick Frey