Decorative and Design

If, at first glance, the TWIST salt and pepper mills look familiar, it may be that you are thinking of the object that inspired their form: maracas, the musical instrument. Taken in hand, the long handle and round base provide the perfect arrangement for a salt or pepper mill. It is comfortable to hold and easy to work, turning salt crystals and peppercorns into fine, even grains. The silk matte stainless steel is cool and soft to the touch. The designer was inspired by the shape of maracas–he says the idea appealed to his Scandinavian sense of humour. The grinder holds a generous amount and the grinder itself is made of ceramic. Each includes a plastic funnel for easy refilling and there is a function for adjusting the size of the grain. The set is a great gift for your favourite chef–or anyone who appreciates a table setting with personality.

stoneware 20"h x 21"w x 21"d

Regional ceramic foundry Shigeyuki Tanba has existed in one form or another for over 800 years in the Japanese village of Tachikui, Hyogo. Having developed a reputation for simple, elegant production — this untitled piece also reflects a new contemporary interest in cleaner line, the use of a thinner and purely white porcelain clay, and the ornamental arrangement of shifting planes that adroitly embody nature.

Recent years have seen Rodwittiya exploring archetypal figuration of the female form in a celebratory mode. The disappearance of the male figure from her work is not so much a measure of exclusion as it is a positive assertion monumentalized figure of the female protagonist. The representation of the female figure has been a paramount concern for her, even as it has been significant for several feminist artists. Rodwittiya has been consistently working with the problem of representing the female form in a way that does not allow voyeuristic participation from the onlooker.

Pincus’ research into the value and perceptions evoked by colour is made all the more remarkable in its synchronisation with ceramic form. His precisely thrown porcelain vessels or pots find themselves a canvas for the kind of colour theory first expressed by Isaac Newton in his 1704 opus Opticks, or the exercises and studies of Johannes Itten and Josef Albers, and portray a semi-scientific and progressively orientated approach to understanding interactions of space, interaction and perception. Pinches often refers to his vessels as ‘paintings of pots’ as commonly as pots themselves, introducing an intriguing conflict between our impression of surface and object.

Studio Line Achim Haigis