Tichelaar Makkum towers

The Royal Tichelaar Makkum show at Salone is one of the less ostentatious but quietly spectacular fringe events to take in and this year was no different. The Dutch ceramics company dates back to 1572 and whilst their specialist history plays a very significant role in their work, it’s their collaboration since the Nineties with contemporary designers that makes Tichelaar so interesting.

Jurgen Bey's tower

Following Dick van Hoff’s bold, functional ‘Work’ series of 2007, which we awarded best collection to in our 2008 design awards, this year tradition was more the name of the game. The company was asked four years ago to restore two 17th century Dutch flower pyramids for the Amsterdam Rijksmuseem.

Studio Job's tower

The restoration was the starting point of a new project, namely of asking four contemporary Dutch designers to reinterpret the traditional tulip tower. And Hella Jongerius, Alexander van Slobbe, Studio Job and Jurgen Bey’s designs were unveiled last week. Willemijn Tichelaar said of the project, ‘it was our goal to show the maximum capabilities of our craftsmen and at the same time stretch the designers’ skills to their limits.’

Hella Jongerius' tower

And both meticulous skill and ethereal imagination are evident in each of the four results. From Bey’s precarious balancing act of everyday containers, which has a craft-like feel to the more robust fantasy of Studio Job’s teapot, pipe and steam arrangement; the refined poise of van Slobbe’s symmetrical stack to the playful pouring teapot of Jongerius – each was individual and impressive and made for a spectacular show and another Salone with Tichelaar as one of our favourite highlights.

The towers are limited in edition to seven each and will be on show at Moss in New York in ICFF.