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.
‘Fin’ chairs, by Pelle and Erie Basin
‘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.’
Left, ’Silver Veil’ table lamp. Right, brass lighting rig with a blossom of hand-sculpted petals from Pelle
’Dark Moon’ wall light andd ’Fin’ chair, 2017, both by Pelle and Erie Basin
INFORMATION
For more information, please visit the Erie Basin website and the Pelle website
ADDRESS
Pelle
56 West 22nd Street
New York, NY 10010
-
Willy Chavarria: ‘We’re still so stuck in fashion‘s old guard’As part of the August 2025 ‘Made in America’ issue of Wallpaper*, we invited three creative powerhouses to comment on the state of the States. Here, award-winning American fashion designer Willy Chavarria speaks on creative resilience, uniting with activist groups, and shaking up fashion’s old guard
-
Six Indian artists reframe the ladies compartment of a Mumbai local trainAn exhibition by Method (India) at Galerie Melike Bilir in Hamburg explores a gendered space
-
Frank Lloyd Wright’s The Fountainhead – a shining example of Usonian design – is now on the marketThis quintessential Wright home – built in a vibrant mid-century neighbourhood – was named after a novel inspired by the architect
-
The owner of this restored Spanish Colonial home turned it into a gallery – with no social media allowedCasa Francis in LA is a private residence, but recently opened its doors to one member of the public at a time for an exhibition centred around domesticity
-
Why are so many rooms covered in curtains?Comfort, privacy, and performance are all contained in the rooms swaddled in plush draperies
-
This Manhattan apartment and studio is a shrine to artThis New York artist's home is both comfortable and flexible, acting as a studio and a showcase for his work and collected pieces. We take a tour for our interiors series, The Inside Story
-
Life’s a beach at this tropical-glam Miami developmentFive Park Miami Beach mixes streamlined glamour with vibrant colour, and is the focus of Wallpaper’s interiors series, The Inside Story, as the Floridian city holds its annual Grand Prix
-
A Frank Lloyd Wright lamp broke auction record at Sotheby’s – fetching $7.5 millionThe architect's ‘Double-Pedestal’ lamp, which was designed for the Dana House in 1903, has become his most valuable work ever offered at auction
-
Step inside this Upper East Side jewel box apartmentThis radiant Lexington Avenue home is a harbinger of good things for the Upper East Side, and the latest focus of The Inside Story, our series spotlighting intriguing and innovative interior design
-
This Colorado ski chalet combines Rocky Mountains warmth with European design nousWood and stone meet artisanal and antique pieces in this high-spec, high-design mountain retreat
-
Swiss utilitarianism meets West Africa in this Armando Cabral and USM furniture collaborationA centuries-old West African motif signifying movement, adaptability, and progress served as the starting point for this collaboration between New York-based designer Armando Cabral and Swiss furniture brand USM
