Third Sunday of Advent and our fourth and last episode of the ‘Design Your Christmas’ series for this year. This week, we look at some classic flavours from Austria and France, Palestinian heritage and some colours for your festival tables.

Carafe by Aldo Bakker by Wiener Silber Manufactur (Austria)

Wiener Silber Manufactur is the tradition keeper of a the Viennese excellence when it comes to silverware. Launched in 1882 by Alexander Sturm, a trained gold- and silversmith, fulfilled his dream of manufacturing his own silverware.

Beside the traditional collection, Wiener Silber Manufactur has the high end ‘Masterpieces’ line with design creations especially made for the brand by great designers such as Zaha Hadid, Wolfgang Joop, Tino Valentinitsch, Erwin Wurm, Tomas Alonso, Zeruniaandwiesz…

For his carafe, Aldo Bakker, a trained silversmith so he knew that Wiener Silber Manufactur would deliver uncompromising design and high quality craftsmanship.

An indentation functions as a handle; on the opposite side the oval body narrows to a beak preventing ice cubes from slipping through. With a capacity of 1 liter, the carafe is around 15 centimeters high and weighs 500 g.

The carafe was first presented at Aldo Bakker’s solo exhibition SLOW MOTION in the renowned Carpenters Workshop Gallery in Paris on October 19, 2020.

Price: Fine silver in limited edition of 8 pieces: EUR 8.000* - Alpacca silver-plated: EUR 4.000*

Odette Chair by Anthony Guerrée (France)

“She was holding a bouquet of cattleyas and Swann saw, that under the veil of lace adorning her hair, she had placed the very same orchid complimented by a beautiful hair pin and swan feathers. She was dressed, under her mantilla, in an abundant flow of black velvet, which by some fashionable device let appear both the white skirt and yoke, which gave a startling contrast to her outfit. She had neatly placed other flowers at the opening of her bodice.” Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time

The Odette chair by Anthony Guerrée and its floral shape refers to Odette de Crécy's cattleya in Marcel Proust's novel. In France, during the Second Empire rattan chair became popular is French bistros and restaurants.

Odette is made of rattan and was developed in partnership with Maison Louis Drucker in the pure French rattan tradition.

Dimensions : 50 x 42 x h 100 cm

Available in 5 Patterns and 6 colours ranges. Made to order by Maison Louis Drucker.

Price: EUR 625*.

Jhazek Ya Shams by Naqsh Collective (Jordan)

“Jhazek Ya Shams” by Naqsh Collective (Amman) is a hand-crafted home collectable line inspired by the old Palestinian tradition of bridal gifting, which documents different motifs from the Palestinian embroidery heritage and the areas originated from, to be used and celebrated, engraved and finished with love.

“Shams, you are a lullaby on your mother‘s lips, a prayer in your grandmother’s heart, a dream stitched by your aunts Nisreen and Nermeen… Today, we all celebrate you returning home, a dream long awaited by millions…“For it is in giving that we receive”, St. Francis of Assisi.

I picked up two objects from the collection.

Moon Feathers Tray

white industrial marble with brass. d 35 d x h 3.5 cm. Price: USD 350*

Disk of Stars Tray

white industrial marble with brass. w 20 x l 60 x h 3.5xm. USD 425*

You can browse the entire collection here.

Ora Incense Holder by René Linssen (Australia)

René Linssen is a South African born, Australian Industrial Designer living and working in Canberra, Australia. Ora is a minimal incense holder crafted in solid brass and aluminium. The design came out of the desire to modernise the classic incense holder and give it a contemporary aesthetic.

Ora's form takes inspiration from the Kuwait Water Towers by Architect Stig Egnell, which were built in Kuwait City and completed in 1976. The funnel shape of Ora holds your incense and captures falling ash beautifully.

Size: 6 x 5.5 cm (at widest point). Manufactured in Australia.

Price: AUD 129* (ca USD 97). Available to purchase through Gingerfinch.

Additional Information:

Hero picture: “The Tree of Love,” von Furstenberg’s creation for Hotel Claridge (2018). 8,000 hand-painted silver leaves, glass spheres, and 150 hand-blown hearts. Underneath its branches are six animals, each symbolising a different ideal: an owl for wisdom, a dove for peace, a horse for wisdom, a deer for gentleness, a peacock for beauty, a mouse for curiosity. Picture courtesy of Claridge Hotel.

*all prices are exclusive of local taxes and shipping.

The Design Your Christmas Series Continues...