FROM THE SPRING CATALOG · PLATE I
Heirloom objects from working studios.
Prospect commissions ceramics, textiles, furniture, and lighting from a small roster of studios in Ireland, Ethiopia, Japan, and the Hudson Valley. Each object is photographed, catalogued, and released in a numbered edition. Nothing is reissued without the maker's consent.
Plate I. Stoneware vase, Vase 04. Wood-fired by M. O'Driscoll, Cobh, County Cork. Edition of forty.
PLATE II · CATEGORIES
Collections.
Four working categories. The studio releases new editions in each category two or three times a year, and only when a piece has earned its place in the catalog.
Ceramics
Wheel-thrown stoneware and slip-cast porcelain from studios in Cobh, Hagi, and the Hudson Valley. Each piece is signed and numbered.
View the ceramics→
Textiles
Hand-loomed cotton, wool, and Ethiopian highland flax. Woven by named cooperatives and finished without softeners.
View the textiles→
Furniture
Solid oak, walnut, and reclaimed Douglas fir, joined by hand. Built to outlast the room it is delivered to.
View the furniture→
Lighting
Spun brass and turned wood pendants, wired by a small workshop in upstate New York. Edition sizes are kept small on purpose.
View the lighting→
PLATE III · PROVENANCE
Materials Schedule.
A reading list for the spring catalog. The schedule is reproduced from the studio's own working notes, in the convention of an architectural drawing.
| Object | Material | Origin | Maker |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vase 04 | Wood-fired stoneware | Cobh, County Cork | M. O'Driscoll |
| Throw 11 | Highland cotton, undyed | Tigray Region, Ethiopia | I. Adeyemi (workshop of) |
| Bench 02 | Quarter-sawn white oak | Hudson, New York | T. Halverson |
| Pendant 06 | Spun brass, turned ash | Beacon, New York | Y. Tanaka |
| Bowl 09 | Hagi-yaki porcelain | Yamaguchi Prefecture | K. Matsumoto |
| Cushion 03 | Carded wool, hand-spun | Borris, County Carlow | S. Whelan |
| Tray 07 | Reclaimed Douglas fir | Astoria, Oregon | P. Aalto |
PLATE IV · THE JOURNAL
Journal.
Notes from the studio on the craft processes behind the catalog. Three short essays per season, written by the editors and read-checked by the makers.
No. 01
On the difference between thrown and slip-cast.
A thrown pot keeps the fingerprint of the hour it was made in. A slip-cast pot is a record of a mould, and the mould is a record of a decision. Neither is more honest than the other; they are answers to different questions. M. O'Driscoll, in Cobh, throws because the wheel is the question she returns to.
Read note →No. 02
A morning at the loom in Tigray.
The cooperative in the highlands begins work before first light, while the cotton is still cool. The looms are wooden, the warps are counted by hand, and the patterns are agreed in conversation between weavers who have worked together for two decades. The blankets that arrive at the studio carry that conversation in them.
Read note →No. 03
Ash, oak, and the case for working with imperfection.
T. Halverson selects timber for the ring, the figure, and the small flaws a sawmill would reject. A knot is not a defect; a knot is the place where a branch met the trunk. The bench remembers the tree it came from. The studio considers this a feature of the work, not a tolerance to be planed away.
Read note →
PLATE V · CORRESPONDENCE
Field notes from the studio.
Three notes a year. Long form. Always free. Sent by post in certain cases, by email otherwise. The list is small and stays that way.