When we think of 19th-century design, our collective imagination immediately conjures up images of heavily baroque interiors or teacups adorned with flowers and gold trim. But there's more to it, as evidenced by this. Christopher Dresser, a designer originally from Glasgow and active during the Victorian era. Today he still stands out among the first and main interpreters of design in the modern sense, anticipating – and preparing, in a certain sense – the subsequent developments of the 20th century.
Among the designer of his generation he is probably the only one who can boast pieces still in production today And, above all, still associated with contemporary objects. The simplicity and precision of its tea service are in no way inferior to its current counterparts. It could easily be mistaken for the latest addition to the Alessi catalog rather than a replica of a historic design, now a hundred years old.
Dresser was an expert in metalworking techniques. He was also one of the very first European designers to visit Japan. The simplicity of Japanese design led him towards a minimalist taste and pushed him to seek a union between aesthetics e functionalityDresser thus abolished any surface ornamentation, leaving the most essential characteristics of the object – such as the joints or the material itself – to define its aesthetic qualities.
A simple yet fundamental lesson for the whole Design Modern and contemporary, still strongly rooted in these concepts. Dresser's tableware has thus survived to this day, proving itself to be a suitable and perfectly usable object even today. Few would be able to guess its true age.
Alessi has put Dresser's objects back into production since 1991 and continues to re-propose them silver replicas, strictly hand-made and in limited edition.
