Flower Pyramid 2008
Hella Jongerius NL
Koninklijke Tichelaar Makkum NL
faience, metal, plastic
donation by Designcentrum Vlaanderen, 2010
This impressive flower vase was inspired by a leading piece from the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Such ‘flower pyramids’, which generally consist of stacked distinct parts, emerged in the seventeenth century court of Willem III of Orange and his wife Mary Stuart, who is said to have had a predilection for precious cut flowers and Delft pottery. After Koninklijke Tichelaar Makkum had restored the collection piece of the Rijksmuseum, the company asked four Dutch designers to give it a contemporary interpretation. Hella Jongerius conceived her copy as a hanging design. In doing so she wanted to strip the showcase of its aura, as she herself explained. That the painted decoration and even the material – by means of perforations – gradually disappear from bottom to top, seems to fit in that concept.
SOURCES
www.jongeriuslab.com; www.rijksmuseum.nl.