Milan 08: new homeware brand Meta will launch in Milan next week by exhibiting new work from Asymptote, Barber Osgerby, Tord Boontje, Matali Crasset and Wales and Wales in Zona Tortona.

Meta is a company started by London antique house Mallet, and aims to provide designers with access to highly skilled craftsmen and high quality materials. Top image: Cupola reading table by Barber Osgerby. Above: Cidade table by Barber Osgerby

Above: Tula table by Asymptote

The following information is from Meta:

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Meta– A Unique Collection of Objects and Furniture created by Leading Designers and Master Artisans – to debut in Zona Tortona for the Salone Del Mobile 2008

The European launch of a new company, at the Salone Del Mobile 2008 celebrates the culmination of three years of intensive preparation. Meta enables unique collaborations between select designers, the best of master-craftsmen and unsurpassed materials. Every element in the creation of a object is proof of respect for skills and pursuit of uncompromising quality. The result is a collection of objects and furniture of exemplary quality created from covetable, fine and frequently rare materials.

Each Meta designer has been given access to an encyclopaedic range of materials, methods of making and knowledge of archetypal form.The designers have worked with expert artisans who have applied their skills and know-how to realise each designer’s vision.

Without this partnership of designer, maker and materials none of the objects would have been possible.

Meta is the antithesis of machine-age production. As each Meta object is touched, opened and used, it reveals more of the story of its making. Layers of detail in each object give satisfaction to all the senses.

The designers launching pieces in Milan are:

• Asymptote: two objects that gather and contain
• Barber Osgerby: two objects that are singular and celebratory
• Tord Boontje: an object that conceals and reveals
• Matali Crasset: an object that illuminates
• Wales and Wales: an object for creation and contemplation

Meta is the genesis of Mallet of Bond Street, London, one of the world’s pre-eminent antique houses.The creative ambition of the Meta collection has been enriched by Mallett’s outstanding knowledge of the materials and techniques used in the best of 18th century furniture and decorative arts. The new collection brings the language of the vanishing arts to the vocabulary of designers working with a 21st century vision.