Tableware Series Simple White
The Simple White tableware series consists of various pieces, all handcrafted from porcelain. The special feature is the varying deformation during the drying and firing process, which happens from within the material itself depending on handling and is deliberately allowed. What is normally considered a flaw in ceramic craft is here consciously part of the design. How each piece deforms is only partially controllable. Room is given to chance, and so each piece is fundamentally the same yet slightly different.
Reduced Forms, Open Use
Another important aspect was to design the tableware pieces in form and size so that they are not intended for just one use, but rather their function is kept as open as possible. For example, the cups have no handles, which makes them more like vessels that can be used not only for coffee but also for other purposes. This also allows the number of different tableware pieces to be reduced to the forms that are truly needed.
The tableware is dishwasher safe.
Exploring Clay and Craft
Ceramic craft is among the oldest in the world. Ceramic vessels can be made relatively easily from just a few natural raw materials. But what is the difference between regular earth and loam, or between clay and porcelain? How are the raw materials processed? What techniques exist? I have been intensively pursuing these questions since 2012 and had to realize how little I knew about the production of everyday ceramic products and even less about what is beneath my feet.
It all began with simple manual experimentation with different types of clay, followed by learning various techniques and finally complex material and technical experiments. Teaching oneself a craft autodidactically and independently developing knowledge is a significantly longer process in which many mistakes are made. However, this also leads to unconventional paths, linking different work processes, establishing new connections, and discovering the unknown, new possibilities, and that a mistake doesn’t necessarily have to be wrong. Haptic research in the sense of “understanding by doing” also makes it possible to examine production processes and raw materials more closely regarding environmental and working conditions as well as resource extraction, and to grasp them physically.
In doing so, it is important to make connections and relationships between people, environment, and objects tangible, to awaken curiosity and enthusiasm, and to incorporate gained insights into design concepts. This continuous research has so far led to various studio series and products that can be discovered on this website and in the shop.
Using the special characteristics of the material and production to create something distinctive.
Craft
With a lot of practice, people can produce several identical pieces by hand with incredible precision. But what exactly is the difference between manual and industrial production? When does each production method make sense?
Apart from the difference in speed between manual and industrial production, a key difference is that a manual process is not preprogrammed; instead, you can decide at the moment of creation how much control to exercise and how much room to leave for chance.
This tableware series can only be produced by hand.
Material
The porcelain used comes from England and impresses with its special color tone reminiscent of eggshells. This warm white tone appears natural and harmonizes particularly well with all served dishes.
Porcelain has a completely different haptic surface than stoneware. To make this perceptible, all tableware pieces are glazed only on the inside, while cups and espresso cups are also half-glazed on the outside, so that the raw porcelain remains tangible. Since the tableware is fired at approximately 1250°C and sintered in the process, the porcelain does not absorb moisture even in the unglazed areas and is completely suitable for everyday use and dishwasher-safe.
Manufactured identically, but warped differently. Chance is consciously part of the design.
There is a beauty in chance that cannot be created manually or mechanically.
Stackable, although each piece is slightly different.
The tableware is only glazed on the inside and left unglazed on the outside. To ensure that the unglazed areas feel particularly silky smooth, all pieces are sanded before and after each firing.
Plates available with different rim heights.
Handcrafted Porcelain Tableware for Gastronomy
An independent institute has tested the tableware for scratch hardness and edge impact resistance. It performed very well. Additionally, there is the option to produce the plates with a higher rim for easier service. Plates with a low rim are ideal for private use and fit in standard dishwashers.
Minimizing Waste
Irregularities and randomness as part of the design reduce production waste, as the differences become a special feature and are consciously part of the design.
Use
Ceramic is an enormously durable product that can be used across generations. Therefore, products should be designed so that people enjoy using them. Things that people enjoy using aren’t quickly discarded. This too is a form of sustainability.
Resource-Efficient
The focus is on the porcelain and its natural color as well as possible surface textures, not on glazes. Colored glazes are completely avoided. Clay and clay remnants are largely collected, processed, and reused.
Unique Pieces in Series
All tableware pieces in the „Simple White“ series are hand-formed from porcelain. Porcelain can deform significantly during certain drying and firing processes. What is normally considered a flaw becomes part of the design here. The differences between objects, the small irregularities in form and glaze, as well as the visibility of the craft are part of the concept. Each piece is therefore unique. All objects in the tableware series are glazed on the inside and left velvety raw on the outside. Over time, signs of use may become visible. All objects are fired at 1250° degrees, so that the porcelain is sintered and dense. The glaze is food-safe and all tableware pieces are dishwasher-safe.
The tableware series is available exclusively in the studio shop.
Are you looking for tableware for your restaurant? Please feel free to write.
Porzellangeschirr für das Restaurant "Im Künstlerhaus" Foto Manuel Wagner
Porzellangeschirr für das Hotel Edith Foto Peter Oliver Wolff
Porzellangeschirr für das Restaurant "Im Künstlerhaus" Foto Manuel Wagner
