Nendo makes lilypad table and decorative flowers from Sèvres porcelain
Japanese studio Nendo has designed a table from ceramic lotus leaves and a series of ornamental flowers made from cup handles for Parisian porcelain company Sèvres.
Created for 275 year-old porcelain manufacturer Sèvres, Nendo used the company's famous ceramic material to create a low table and a range of flower ornaments.
Square-shaped at one end, the Hasu low table gradually disperses into a group of small round tables, all set at the same height and shaped like individual lotus leaves.
While the square end of the table is plain and flat, as it dissipates into separate, circular tables, each surface starts to gradually show the vein pattern found on real lily pads, becoming more detailed and textured as it progresses.
Nendo wanted the intricacy of the veins on each lotus leaf to reflect the characteristic style of the Sèvres porcelain products, which are often endowed with a variety of expertly crafted decorative details.
According to the studio, this gradient transition from flat and smooth to patterned and textured was used to emulate the flowing nature of water – the speed and direction of the flow can be varied by changing the position of the small tables.
For the flowers, Nendo wanted to make use of the large number of handles that Sèvres has designed for the many cups and pots within its extensive archive of products.
The studio created a series of porcelain flowers using these handle designs, each a different shape and size. Each handle represents a petal. Adjustments were made to the number of petals, the size of the gaps between each one and their angle, so that every flower would be unique.
The prolific Japanese design studio has already released a host of products this year, including a Skeleton cutlery set that features a distinctive kink where the handle joins the head so that it can be hooked onto tableware.