Some objects create connections that cross space and time. This is what happens in the private collection of Swiss designer David Glättli, who works as an art director and consultant for many Japanese manufacturers. Focused on everyday objects, both ancient and contemporary, designer or trouvé, his collection links Switzerland to Japan in an ingenious way. It connects two cultures that are geographically distant but intimately close in their aesthetic sensibility and search for quality.
Tray, unknown artist 20th century, glazed ceramic
Though David Glättli found this object in a tile factory in Gifu, Japan, this is not a tile. Perhaps it’s a production error or, more likely, an experiment made by one of the factory workers, and then abandoned.
Unfinished urushi bowl, unknown artist 20th century, lathed wood
Urushi is both the name of the natural paint that covers traditional bowls and of the technique used to apply it. Showing the signs of the lathe, this unfinished urushi bowl in solid wood found in Uwajima reveals a masterly manufacturing process.
Vase, unknown artist 18th century, urushi lacquer
This vase was purchased in an antique shop in Nagano, the capital of the homonymous Prefecture in the mountains of Japan. Nevertheless, it looks like an object designed by the Memphis Group, the Italian postmodern collective founded by Ettore Sottsass in the 1980s.
Cup with handle, Unknown artist from Gifu c. 2013, hand-painted porcelain
David Glättli purchased this cup at the Tajimi ceramic festival. During this major springtime event in Gifu, Japan, ceramic stores and independent artists line the streets with their creations. With its bold colors and strange shape, it is very different from traditional Japanese ceramics.
Basket, Shigeki Fujishiro (Jp) 2020, paper bands
One of the red knot baskets by Shigeki Fujishiro, a Japanese designer based in Miyota, Nagano. Part of the contemporary designer’s ongoing reflection on sustainability and reuse, it is realised with waste materials.
Working tile (ball), Max Lamb (UK) 2019, ceramic tiles
This ball is part of a set of modular, three-dimensional tiles designed by Max Lamb for Tajimi Custom Tiles. By using typical Japanese clays, it is possible to create countless shapes, from small objects like balls and vases to benches, sofas and even partition walls.
Flower vase, Millimeter Milligram (Kr) 2016, blown glass
A contemporary interpretation of a traditional technique. With its geometric shape, very hard to achieve by blowing glass, and deep black shade, this flower vase by Korean designer Millimeter Milligram looks bold and mysterious at the same time.
