Jewellery and design elegantly come together for a memorable furniture launch
With their clear differences in utility and scale, the worlds of jewellery and furniture aren't easily melded together. However, the design studio Pelle and jewellery label Erie Basin have made a captivating case of how the two can work. Unveiled at Collective Design Fair last week, the collaboration between the two, titled ‘Past Presence’, is a poetic blend of jewellery fabrication, vintage features and modern design sensibilities.
Together, Pelle and Erie Basin’s founder Russell Whitmore created three new pieces that bring together both historic and contemporary design. A large table lamp called ‘Silver Veil’ pairs a reflective base made from pure polished silver with a dimmer dial set in Maw sit sit (a rare jade-like stone) and a curtain of silver beads adorning both sides.
A second lighting piece, ‘Dark Moon’ adapts the half moon shape, popular in the Arts & Crafts jewellery movement, into a wall sconce made out of solid brass that’s been hand treated with a jade patina. The sconce is finished with a fringe of Serpentine marble segments that add to its alchemic effect.
‘We started the collaboration without any preconceptions on what exactly we were going to do,’ says Pelle co-founder Jean Pelle. ‘Our work was not driven by style, but rather by looking for relationships between forms and materials that span beyond the contemporary context. We look[ed] at some Austrian secessionist period pieces as examples of work that has a similar transitional feeling.’
The collection’s third piece comes in the form of the ‘Fin’ chair – an elegant blackened steel construction that boasts a sturdier, anchoring leg crafted from Honduran mahogany. ‘It was rooted in traditional craft and materials, while looking towards finding a contemporary formal vocabulary,’ Oliver Pelle adds. ‘It was also a period in time that feels similar to what is happening in New York right now, where the market can support small independent craft based work.’
‘Every piece involved multiple trades, from metal fabricators to platers, wood workers, lapidary to jewellers,’ says Jean. ‘Without the overlap of our craftsmen and Russell’s experts, we could not have realised these pieces.’
INFORMATION
For more information, please visit the Erie Basin website and the Pelle website
ADDRESS
Pelle
56 West 22nd Street
New York, NY 10010
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Pei-Ru Keh is a former US Editor at Wallpaper*. Born and raised in Singapore, she has been a New Yorker since 2013. Pei-Ru held various titles at Wallpaper* between 2007 and 2023. She reports on design, tech, art, architecture, fashion, beauty and lifestyle happenings in the United States, both in print and digitally. Pei-Ru took a key role in championing diversity and representation within Wallpaper's content pillars, actively seeking out stories that reflect a wide range of perspectives. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children, and is currently learning how to drive.
-
Explore Cornwall's cosiest coffee shops
Cornwall is known for its natural beauty and stunning landscape, here is our pick of coffee shops to enjoy the views and refuel
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Maude’s Brâncuși-inspired sex toys go on display in a new Paris exhibition
Maude’s design-led vibrators are now on display at Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, as part of ‘Private Lives: From the Bedroom to Social Media’. Brand founder Éva Goicochea talks to Wallpaper* about partnering with the museum and opening up cultural conversations around sex
By India Birgitta Jarvis Published
-
‘I was captivated by the idea of merging two iconic brands’: Nigo on his 1990s-inspired collaboration with Moncler and Mercedes-Benz
Unveiled at Moncler’s ‘The City of Genius’ event in Shanghai this past weekend, Japanese fashion designer Nigo unpacks his three-way collaboration with Moncler and Mercedes-Benz, which includes a play on the G-Class alongside a fashion collection in his eclectic style
By Jack Moss Published
-
Brooklyn furniture studio Stillmade unveils its first collaborative design series
Stillmade brings to life the designs of four New Yorkers – Pat Kim, Danny Kaplan, Michele Quan and Mignogna Studio
By Pei-Ru Keh Published
-
Blue Green Works's lighting champions a new aesthetic in American design
Manhattan-based design studio Blue Green Works fuses sensuality and masculinity to create mellow, mood-enhancing lighting with visual impact
By Pei-Ru Keh Published
-
Blue Green Works introduces alluring new lighting collection
Inspired by iconography, American design studio Blue Green Works introduces five new lighting ranges
By Rosa Bertoli Published
-
First look inside Centurion New York by Yabu Pushelberg
Centurion New York is an expansive new space for American Express’ ‘black card’ members. Its interior designers Yabu Pushelberg give us a tour
By Tilly Macalister-Smith Published
-
Exclusive peek at artfully curated home in Jean Nouvel’s 53 West 53
RR Interiors' latest furnishing project – 61A at 53 West 53 – highlights art, architecture and city views inside Jean Nouvel's monumental New York skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan
By Martha Elliott Last updated
-
Industrial elements are imbued with elegance in Holly Hunt’s new Los Angeles showroom
Holly Hunt and architects Johnston Marklee have created a warm and tactile space in a 1940s building
By Hannah Silver Last updated
-
Sculptural ceramic lamps from Brooklyn’s In Common With and Danny Kaplan
‘Terra’, a new collection of ceramic lamps featuring tactile glazes, puts Brooklyn studio In Common With and ceramicist Danny Kaplan in the spotlight
By Pei-Ru Keh Last updated
-
Sight Unseen launches furniture line with Bestcase
Editorial platform Sight Unseen worked with sheet metal specialist Bestcase to launch a collection of 1970s-inspired furniture in collaboration with Home Studios, Studio Anansi and Thévoz-Choquet
By Pei-Ru Keh Last updated