Cool furniture, design objects and desiderata

[imatlas]

So I'm the only one that mainly uses his fingers?

Right hand eat, left hand wipe.

I looked at R&B, Mitchell Gold but eventually settled for the Bantam sofa

I’ve been surprised by how I’ve liked some MG designs. Cant speak to quality but I like the aesthetic.

Is it too soon to say that the only design element I care about in a fork is that it will pick up my food, transfer said food to my mouth, and will last for decades?

For me I’d add “comfortable to hold at any angle”, which the vast majority of the designs posted appear to fail (including the Fiskars set that I have)

Interior Define has some decent options on sale atm...

Ms.Chesterfield Custom Velvet Loveseat

Ms. Chesterfield is our lighter, softer take on the classic Chesterfield sofa. The custom loveseat is a statement piece that can be customized to suit any room.

www.interiordefine.com

What a tease! Now I want to know what happens to Melanie and Tony - do they ever connect?

In certain parts of the Subcontinent this is the norm. So you and probably 500m others.

If you ever visit a Gurdwara be prepared for someone scooping up a handful of prasad and giving it to you.

 

[TheFoo]

Yes, Hay. You're right that they're probably stamped.

I'm now leaning towards these by Castiglioni for Alessi: I like the matte/polished contrast, which I suppose also has functionality. And I like the squared handles, so they won't wobble on the table. I don't understand why they don't seem to make the fruit knives though.

View attachment 1569791

You might like these (Georg Jensen) or the Alessi Santiago, though both seem a little too designery to me:

View attachment 1569793

For my lifestyle, I want my flatware to have practical but playful proportions combined with a rational aesthetic and little to no ornamentation. I want it to be super high-quality. It should feel right to use whether grabbing a pint of ice cream from the freezer to eat in my underwear or serving a nice meal to guests (while wearing full-blown pants).

The first set above just generally does not comply with any of my aesthetic tastes, flatware or not. Happy to get into a more detailed analysis, but it has that horrible “contemporary traditional” look that I hate more than anything else. But it might suit you.

What I don’t like about Alessi, and David Mellor for that matter, is that they play sneaky with where their stuff is made. Both companies have deep origins and fame in making their own things close to home. Alessi is what it is because they were Italy’s “dream factory”. Mellor loves to talk about their Sheffield heritage and show-off their “workshop” nearby, but it is really more of a visitor center. In reality, both contract out most of their flatware production to Asian manufacturers these days. Maybe that shouldn’t matter if the quality is still there, but I still view it as a breach of trust and the lack of transparency makes me wonder if there have been any other shortcuts taken.

Also, I don’t like the look of Alessi flatware overall. Something about the all-over mirror polish and proclivity toward flat surfaces gives everything a very commercial and uninviting look. It all feels like high-end business hotel flatware to me. Yes, Pott is much pricier, but they show how modernist flatware can look when nicely finished by hand.

The George Jensen set above is closer to what I might like, but the fork is too sporkish. I like longer, closer tines.

Basically, I would like cutlery that looks fairly ordinary but is in reality well considered and well made. The Castiglioni set comes close but is not quite what I'm after. Suggestions much appreciated, though the Pott stuff may be a bit too expensive for me (I do like the embassy set, though it's maybe a little too fancy).

Also, gratitude to the Foo for bringing up the subject. It's something worth thinking about especially now that we're eating at home practically every day.

What about Jasper Morrison or Bouroullec-designed flatware? Both are very “normal”
looking.

Nearly 3 years ago I considered getting new cutlery and asked for some suggestions in this thread. If you care to check it out, the suggestions start on the top of this page and continue over the next couple of pages.

This post had the sets I ended up considering, with most photos still working.

In the end... I ended up not getting anything, and for the moment I'm pretty happy with my Citterio 98 from Ittala, even after 20+ years of use:

View attachment 1569860
(The lighting here make the neck of the fork and spoon seem slimmer than they are IRL.)

The set I was very close to getting (and still really like) is below.

Spoiler

View attachment 1569861

I like your current set better! The Ercuis is probably better quality, but the design is less confident and interesting to me.

I’d recommend these for practical everyday use and good design.

Café stainless steel cutlery - David Mellor

David Mellor's 'Café' range of stainless steel cutlery. Robust, everyday stainless steel cutlery that is also superbly well designed.

www.davidmellordesign.com

Hackmann cutlery is also very good though less utilitarian.

Mellor has so many nice designs.

 

[double00]

Also, gratitude to the Foo for bringing up the subject. It's something worth thinking about especially now that we're eating at home practically every day.

fun and interesting. i'd love to see convo regarding silver vs steeeeel

when i was a kid a buddy's folks were from china, i would have dinner over there the place setting included a ceramic spoon that had a bit of a canoe bowl, and then a wide, flat handle that had more of an angle. the experience of that spoon has always stuck out in memory; there's something to all of this

 

[radicaldog]

For my lifestyle, I want my flatware to have practical but playful proportions combined with a rational aesthetic and little to no ornamentation. I want it to be super high-quality. It should feel right to use whether grabbing a pint of ice cream from the freezer to eat in my underwear or serving a nice meal to guests (while wearing full-blown pants).

I guess I have more of a satisficing view of quality, rather than a maximising view. I don't like tinny-feeling flatware but beyond that I'm not sure I want a perfectly machined piece of steel. This is a bit like when some exponents of early modernism hadn't quite moved on from deco (e.g. Eileen Gray, who is one of my favourite designers regardless). It's nice but, for political reasons, I like the industrial mass-production ethos of socialist-inspired Bauhaus and other midcentury designs. Also, I am clearly much more budget conscious than you, so maybe I'm rationalising this a bit.

The first set above just generally does not comply with any of my aesthetic tastes, flatware or not. Happy to get into a more detailed analysis, but it has that horrible “contemporary traditional” look that I hate more than anything else. But it might suit you.

Yeah I can see why one may not like it for that reason. There's a fine line between balancing different inspirations and trying to please both conservatives and modernists.

What I don’t like about Alessi, and David Mellor for that matter, is that they play sneaky with where their stuff is made. Both companies have deep origins and fame in making their own things close to home. Alessi is what it is because they were Italy’s “dream factory”. Mellor loves to talk about their Sheffield heritage and show-off their “workshop” nearby, but it is really more of a visitor center. In reality, both contract out most of their flatware production to Asian manufacturers these days. Maybe that shouldn’t matter if the quality is still there, but I still view it as a breach of trust and the lack of transparency makes me wonder if there have been any other shortcuts taken.

Fair. I'm not that bothered about provenance but dishonesty is annoying.

Also, I don’t like the look of Alessi flatware overall. Something about the all-over mirror polish and proclivity toward flat surfaces gives everything a very commercial and uninviting look. It all feels like high-end business hotel flatware to me. Yes, Pott is much pricier, but they show how modernist flatware can look when nicely finished by hand.

See above re: hand finishing. Having said that, I do love the 84 set. Part of me wants to do a silly splurge to pretend I'm bourgeois like my parents and get it in silver.

The George Jensen set above is closer to what I might like, but the fork is too sporkish. I like longer, closer tines.

I think the sporky fork is in fact useful, e.g. for eating risotto, biryani, and the like.

What about Jasper Morrison or Bouroullec-designed flatware? Both are very “normal”
looking.

Ohh I didn't know the Bouroullecs had designed cutlery. They're among my favourite contemporary designers. We have quite a few of their designs. They even managed to sell me a television (Serif), which is an object I had never owned before. And I emailed the company to persuade them to build me one of their box beds, but they wouldn't budge (prototype only). I see their cutlery set is for Alessi but I think I can live with that:

 

[TheFoo]

fun and interesting. i'd love to see convo regarding silver vs steeeeel

when i was a kid a buddy's folks were from china, i would have dinner over there the place setting included a ceramic spoon that had a bit of a canoe bowl, and then a wide, flat handle that had more of an angle. the experience of that spoon has always stuck out in memory; there's something to all of this

That’s the traditional Chinese soup spoon. I grew up using them and never use anything but when eating any kind of soup. Porcelain is so much nicer with hot liquids than metal.

I guess I have more of a satisficing view of quality, rather than a maximising view. I don't like tinny-feeling flatware but beyond that I'm not sure I want a perfectly machined piece of steel. This is a bit like when some exponents of early modernism hadn't quite moved on from deco (e.g. Eileen Gray, who is one of my favourite designers regardless). It's nice but, for political reasons, I like the industrial mass-production ethos of socialist-inspired Bauhaus and other midcentury designs. Also, I am clearly much more budget conscious than you, so maybe I'm rationalising this a bit.



Yeah I can see why one may not like it for that reason. There's a fine line between balancing different inspirations and trying to please both conservatives and modernists.



Fair. I'm not that bothered about provenance but dishonesty is annoying.



See above re: hand finishing. Having said that, I do love the 84 set. Part of me wants to do a silly splurge to pretend I'm bourgeois like my parents and get it in silver.

View attachment 1570014


I think the sporky fork is in fact useful, e.g. for eating risotto, biryani, and the like.




Ohh I didn't know the Bouroullecs had designed cutlery. They're among my favourite contemporary designers. We have quite a few of their designs. They even managed to sell me a television (Serif), which is an object I had never owned before. And I emailed the company to persuade them to build me one of their box beds, but they wouldn't budge (prototype only). I see their cutlery set is for Alessi but I think I can live with that:

View attachment 1570018

I like the Bouroullec dinnerware for Alessi. We have the espresso cups and little serving dishes.

To clarify on what I meant about quality and Alessi: it looks too perfect to me! The Pott stuff, because hand finished, is ever so slightly irregular from piece to piece while being more carefully finished at the same time. It feels more inviting to use. Alessi appears almost computer-generated to me.

 

[radicaldog]

Oh and I'm also looking at this, Prisme by Stelton (formerly Jensen, I think):

It seems the triangular prism shape helps them with not wobbling, which appeals to me, and provides a nice excuse for an otherwise too sculptural design.

 

[TheFoo]

Oh and I'm also looking at this, Prisme by Stelton (formerly Jensen, I think):

View attachment 1570019

It seems the triangular prism shape helps them with not wobbling, which appeals to me, and provides a nice excuse for an otherwise too sculptural design.

Now, that looks too “designed” to me. That pointy bevel will stick into your thumb flesh. Seems no reason for it to exist.

 

[radicaldog]

I don't know. If that were the case I'd rule them out. When shops reopen I might go in and handle them. Or I might just order the Bouroullec set and be done with it.

 

[radicaldog]

To clarify on what I meant about quality and Alessi: it looks too perfect to me! The Pott stuff, because hand finished, is ever so slightly irregular from piece to piece while being more carefully finished at the same time. It feels more inviting to use. Alessi appears almost computer-generated to me.

I like that: fully automated luxury communism!

 

[TheFoo]

I like that: fully automated luxury communism!

At $50 per four-piece place setting made my another country’s laborers

 

[radicaldog]

A necessary step in the development of the productive forces

 

[TheFoo]

I don't know. If that were the case I'd rule them out. When shops reopen I might go in and handle them. Or I might just order the Bouroullec set and be done with it.

Cutipol is another manufacturer that just came to mind. They are Portuguese. First encountered their flatware at Minibar in DC several years ago.

Unlike some of the makers discussed, they plainly state that they make their own flatware in Portugal. Price is like Alessi or Jensen.

One potential downside is that their Moon design (above) is one of the trendiest flatware designs on the market. There are tons and tons of “homages” everywhere. It is the flatware that Instagram-lurking young brides are most likely to put on their wedding gift registries.

That said, it is very pretty to me and if it were my preferred design, the current fashionability wouldn’t be a concern.

 

[Kaplan]

That Bouroullec set does look nice. There's an article about it with comments from the designers, on Dezeen here.

(I don't care for the square plates it's designed to go with (and admittedly complements nicely), but it should work just fine with more traditional stuff as well.)

 

[TheFoo]

That Bouroullec set does look nice. There's an article about it with comments from the designers, on Dezeen here.

(I don't care for the square plates it's designed to go with (and admittedly compliments nicely), but it should work just fine with more traditional stuff as well.)

I’m a big Bouroullec fan. But I think Jasper Morrison does what they do a lot better. And he did it first, whatever that matters.

 

[radicaldog]

Cutipol is another manufacturer that just came to mind. They are Portuguese. First encountered their flatware at Minibar in DC several years ago.

View attachment 1570093

Unlike some of the makers discussed, they plainly state that they make their own flatware in Portugal. Price is like Alessi or Jensen.

One potential downside is that their Moon design (above) is one of the trendiest flatware designs on the market. There are tons and tons of “homages” everywhere. It is the flatware that Instagram-lurking young brides are most likely to put on their wedding gift registries.

That said, it is very pretty to me and if it were my preferred design, the current fashionability wouldn’t be a concern.

Hmm. Seems just a little too pretty to me. Basically I don't want my cutlery to look fancy I guess. Which is probably why I'll probably pass on the Prisme in the end, albeit with a heavy heart. Will have a look at the other Cutipol designs though.