Ink Bowls

In Asia, there are old bowls, lacquered and slightly flexible because their soul is made of horsehair. We didn't have the means (nor really the desire) to reproduce this technique that had fallen into disuse, so we convinced a Vietnamese lacquerer to use a textile core. It is on a wooden form (like that of a hat) that we crisscrossed the strips of fabric and the layers of lacquer. The bowls were therefore extremely light, flexible and resistant and the shine of the black lacquer made them irresistible. New, they gave off a deep smell of resin that perfumed the workshop. We designed them in 1999, ordered in series of 500 pieces per year for 4 years. They were sold in sets of five nesting bowls with a diameter of 10 to 23 cm at the price of 475 Francs and the 5 similar saucers, diameter 12 cm were worth 265 Francs.
We called them Ink Bowls and they came with the introduction below:

Coming from Asia, the Ink Bowls and Saucers, light and supple like brushstrokes, adorn the table with a new landscape, small black lacquer lakes where the light shimmers. They are washed by hand, gently, but they are not afraid of tropical temperatures; on their fragile cotton armor has been applied, in eight successive layers, the protective sap of Rhus Vernicifera, an exotic tree.

In Asia, there are ancient bowls, lacquered and slightly supple because their soul is made of horsehair. We didn't have the means (nor really the desire) to reproduce this technique that had fallen into disuse, so we convinced a Vietnamese lacquerer to use a textile core. It is on a wooden form (like a hat) that we intertwined the strips of fabric and the layers of lacquer. The bowls were therefore extremely light, flexible and strong, and the shine of the black lacquer made them irresistible. When new, they gave off a deep smell of resin which perfumed the workshop. We designed them in 1999, ordered in series of 500 pieces a year for 4 years. They were sold as a set of five nesting bowls with a diameter of 10 to 23 cm for 475 francs and the 5 similar saucers with a diameter of 12 cm were worth 265 francs.
We called them Ink Bowls and they were accompanied by the introduction below:

Coming from Asia, the Bowls and Saucers of Ink, as light and supple as brushstrokes, adorn the table with a new landscape, small black lacquer lakes where the light shimmers. They are washed by hand, gently, but they do not fear tropical temperatures; on their fragile cotton armor has been applied, in eight successive layers, the protective sap of the Rhus Vernicifera, an exotic tree.