Milan 09: Dutch designers Atelier NL have created a simple pottery tableware range made of clay dug from different areas of the Netherlands.

Designed for Dutch ceramic manufacturer Royal Tichelaar Makkum, the Fundamentals of Makkum range was presented in Milan last month and features plates, bowls, cups and vases that vary in colour according to the clay used. The objects are painted with rustic scenes.

The manufacturer approached Atelier NL after seeing their project Drawn from Clay (see our previous story here), in which Lonny van Ryswyck and Nadine Sterk of Atelier NL dug up clay from various locations across the Netherlands to use in the production of a series of ceramic objects, expressing their origin through their colour and material composition. Fundamentals of Makkum is an attempt to produce a commercial product from that original concept.

A service set has also been produced featuring farm-yard and countryside illustrations. The original project’s title in Dutch, ‘uit de klei getrokken’, literally translates as ‘pulled from the clay’ but as a Dutch expression actually means ‘from the countryside’ or ‘of farming background’.

The basic service set was intended to be in stark contrast to the exclusivity of last years exhibit Pyramids of Makkum. See our previous story here.

See all our stories from Milan 09 in our special category.

Here’s some further information from Royal Tichelaar Makkum:

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Royal Tichelaar presents ‘FUNDAMENTALS OF MAKKUM’

Royal Tichelaar Makkum is persistently on the prowl for novel applications of ceramics. This approach has earned the company a strong reputation for ceramic creativity in projects together with, among others, Hella Jongerius, Studio Job, Alexander van Slobbe, and Studio Makkink and Bey. Last year Tichelaar’s Flower Pyramids won wide international acclaim. These exuberant celebrations of ceramic mastery showed the public craftsmanship and attention for detail as ‘New Luxury’.

To contrast such highly exclusive tulip vases, produced in very limited numbers, Royal Tichelaar Makkum chose rather basic products for this year: a straightforward pottery’s service, developed with Atelier NL, in line with a tradition that has continued in Makkum until well into the 19th century.

We had often mulled over the feasibility of developing in the Netherlands a new dinner service with wide public appeal. When we became aware of their project, it did not take long for us to appreciate that Lonny van Ryswyck and Nadine Sterk (Atelier NL) had done just that, with their qualification project ‘uit de klei getrokken’ (literally: ‘pulled from the clay’, but in Dutch idiom it actually means: ‘from the countryside’ or ‘of farming background’).

Both ladies, rightly, consider the Netherlands’ soil as a composition of river-, sea- and gletcher sediments. By digging up, shaping and baking clay from different locations, they created a beautiful series of plates and bowls in different colours -a sort of baked map of the realm. Their ideas neatly met our wishes and we worked hard to translate it into products. The result is a delightful archetypical Dutch service.

Royal Tichelaar Makkum, the Netherlands’ oldest company, takes its long history serious without being ‘smugged down’ by it. Classic craftsmanship, contemporary design and research for the future, have sealed a durable alliance in Makkum.