Ceramic Containers
Alexander Girard's work brought a sensuous playfulness
to twentieth-century design that had been absent from the austere aesthetic of
classic modernism. This also finds expression in the Ceramic Containers. The
three original models were made of wood, hand-turned by Girard on a lathe in
his workshop. Their silhouettes are reminiscent of the traditional shapes of
apothecary vessels, board game tokens or millinery blocks.
The original wooden objects are held in the Girard
Archive at the Vitra Design Museum. Using these models as templates, Vitra
joined together with the Girard family to develop the Ceramic Containers in
cast ceramic. The hand-glazed pieces feature hues from Girard's rich colour
palette and can be used to store odds and ends, keys, coins or other items. The
natural material lends the Ceramic Containers an artisanal flair.
Along with his colleagues Charles and Ray Eames and
George Nelson, the designer and architect Alexander Girard was one of the
leading figures in American design during the post-war era. While textile
design was the primary focus of Girard's oeuvre, he was also admired for his
graphic art as well as his work in furniture, exhibition and interior design.
About Designer | |
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Alexander Girard |
Born in 1907 in New York City, Alexander Girard was
one of the leading figures of postwar American design, along with his close
friends and colleagues George Nelson and Charles &
Ray Eames. The primary focus of his wide-ranging oeuvre was
textile design. Girard created numerous fabrics for the Herman Miller Company,
favouring abstract forms and geometric patterns in a wide variety of colour
compositions. Many of his upholstery fabrics remain as timely and vital as ever
and are still manufactured and utilised by Vitra today. Having originally studied architecture, Girard made a
name for himself over his long career in the fields of furniture, exhibition,
interior and graphic design. Moreover, he was one of the world's most important
collectors of folk art. The objects and textiles acquired by Girard on his
extensive travels provided him with a rich source of inspiration and ideas.
When Rolf Fehlbaum, the son of Vitra's founding family, first visited Alexander
Girard and his wife Susan at their Santa Fe home in 1960, Fehlbaum wrote a
letter to his parents telling of the deep impression it had made on him, and
describing it as the most fascinating house he had ever seen in the United
States. Vitra and the Vitra Design Museum have devoted
themselves to the reappraisal and revival of Alexander Girard's work over the
past several years. The growing Girard collection in Vitra's product portfolio
includes his painted Wooden Dolls, the Environmental Enrichment Panels and
various furniture pieces and objects, along with his distinctive fabric designs.
After Alexander Girard's death in 1993, his heirs
donated the Girard archive (comprising hundreds of drawings, prototypes and
samples) to the Vitra Design Museum. In 2016/17, the museum mounted the
exhibition 'Alexander Girard: A Designer's Universe'. |