Under The Tree

Wit, style and fun are always appreciated when unwrapping any gift. With these original and imaginative design pieces, the enjoyment and good times are made to last.

Showtime vases

Jaime Hayon, a designer at the forefront of recent Spanish design, has created Showtime Vases combining the traditions and quality of Spanish ceramics with an edgy vision that is uniquely his own. Placed either alone or in a cluster to make up a set, these space robots will ensure that a sense of humour permeates your home at all times.

Noguchi Akari Light Sculptures

Designed by Isamu Noguchi in 1951 and handmade ever since by the original manufacturer in Gifu, Japan, these paper lanterns are a harmonious blend of Japanese traditional handcraft and modernist form. The lamps are created from handmade Shoji paper, which is renowned for creating soft light diffusion. The ribbing is made of bamboo with painted steel wire legs and in some examples, such as the one pictured, feature partial decorative painting of the Shoji paper.

Yellow Cat Sculpture

A perfect present for the cat lover who does not want the bother of having an actual cat, this stylish decorative object will liven up any room. It will also mix well in a table landscape with other ceramic objets, with its streamlined, long cylindrical body, pointy ears, flat face with cutouts for eyes and quirky tail. As with many Bitossi Ceramiche pieces, it is a numbered and signed limited edition.

L’Oiseau

This creature, designed in 2011, is much more than what looks like a stylised duck decoy. Its designers, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec have worked at the pinnacle of French industrial design for some time now with works that use natural forms and structures as a recurring theme. L’Oiseau’s smoothly sanded finish of fine milled maple and its simple unpretentious form are reminiscent of Nordic folk art and are therefore most suitable for anyone’s contemporary interior. The perfect neutral present.

Sunflower Clock

With the diversity of materials used and their sculptural shapes, the function of these clocks is almost secondary to the design. George Nelson’s clocks really do embody the joie de vivre of the 1950s. To this day his wall clocks remain a refreshing alternative to the usual timekeepers i.e. your phone and laptop. The Vitra Design Museum in Basel produces this design, so cherished by collectors since it went into production back in 1958.

Testa Di Cavallo

Expertly crafted with many years of heritage techniques, this Bitossi ceramic Horse Head has been hand made in Italy. Originally designed in the 1950s by Aldo Londi as part of the iconic Rimini Blue range, this newly minted copper version is not only a great gift for the equestrienne in your home (or that family member who wants a horse for Christmas) but for anyone who would appreciate a dramatic, glowing, theatrical addition to their ceramic collection.

Fornasetti Smilzo Vase

Crafted from ceramic, this vase, with its removable top hat, depicts the face of Piero Fornasettis’s favourite muse, the opera diva Lina Cavalieri who was regarded as being the most beautiful woman in the world. Her face has also proven to be extremely versatile over the years, as the base for hundreds of witty variants decorating limited edition Fornasetti ceramics. A wonderful gift to start, or add to, a very addictive collecting habit.

 

All available at Matisse International Design.