Marie Michielssen’s first ceramic tableware collection embraces organic forms

Marie Michielssen’s tableware for Belgian design label Serax brings an offbeat elegance to a tablescape

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Serax Marie Michielssen tableware
(Image credit: Photography: Victor Robyn)

Tableware is given a chic spin by designer Marie Michielssen, who has unveiled her first ceramic tableware line, ‘La Mère’. The collection, created with Belgian design label Serax, eschews homogeneity for a focus on organic forms. Hand-moulded and cutting irregular silhouettes, the plates, cups, bowls and cutlery of the collection encapsulate the designer’s artisanal approach.

Serax tableware by Marie Michielssen

tableware


(Image credit: Marc Wouters)

Pieces are crafted in stoneware and finished in off-white or dark brown glazes, hues that Michielssen has used before in her ceramic vases, here joining a bold Venetian red. Details are carefully considered in a play on proportions: a double ring at the bottom of plates and bowls offers more stability, while cups are fitted with lids to either keep drinks warm or make a pleasing piece of storage.

cutlery by Serax Marie Michielssen


(Image credit: Marc Wouters)

The tablescape as a whole is considered in a design that creates plates and inverted bowls as a single element. It includes five simple shapes of cutlery, with a sharply drawn fork, spoon, soup spoon, knife and coffee spoon in stainless steel offsetting the curving forms of the ceramics. Glassware, too, represents a clean minimalism, with three small smoky grey glasses inspired by the classic form of a chalice. 

stack of plates from above by Serax Marie Michielssen


(Image credit: Marc Wouters)

The collection is Michielssen’s latest for Serax, where she has been a member of the in-house design team for over 20 years; the two collections she releases each year subvert an everyday functionality. They are a natural fit for Serax, whose collaborations with Ann Demeulemeester, Vincent Van Duysen, Paola Navone and Piet Boon, amongst others, bring an offbeat elegance to everyday accessories. 

serax.com

lidded ceramic mugs by Serax Marie Michielssen


(Image credit: Marc Wouters)

dark brown glazed tableware by Serax Marie Michielssen


(Image credit: Marc Wouters)

glass by Serax Marie Michielssen


(Image credit: Marc Wouters)
Hannah Silver
Hannah Silver

Hannah Silver is a writer and editor with over 20 years of experience in journalism, spanning national newspapers and independent magazines. Currently Art, Culture, Watches & Jewellery Editor of Wallpaper*, she has overseen offbeat art trends and conducted in-depth profiles for print and digital, as well as writing and commissioning extensively across the worlds of culture and luxury since joining in 2019.