We have long been interested in traditional materials and have recently completed projects in pewter for Royal Selangor and bone china for Asianera. Our aim has always been to take old school, even unfashionable materials and create new contemporary forms, changing the way in which we perceive them. This time we wanted to tackle the Chinese material of purple clay, used for the small elaborate teapots used in the serving of black tea.

In this case we wanted to bring a very functional European aesthetic to the material and have designed this seven piece set in conjunction with the Taiwanese company Lin’s Ceramics Studio.  The cups, small jug  and bowl are all stackable and the pot lid can be used on all the pieces.

To complement the existing pieces, we have recently added a small wooden circular plate and a small wooden spoon
made from European Maple. The aim is to contrast the traditional dark uneven material of the Asian purple
clay with the smooth surface of the European pale wood.
The new plate and spoon are rendered food safe with a protective finish so that they can be used as a cake
or sandwich side plate, as well as being a small tray for the small bowl and small jug.

VW+BS collaborated with creative coffee consultants Dunne Frankowski to create a recipe for the perfect coffee using the Silt collection. The duo researched the qualities of the material devising the best form of preparation when making coffee. During this process, Dunne Frankowski documented a method of heating, steeping and filtering the coffee working with the absorbent qualities of the unglazed purple clay material.

They produced a recipe for the perfect coffee using the Silt set…