'The Pyramids of Makkum' tulip vase

Studio Job

(Job Smeets, born Belgium, 1970; Nynke Tynagel, born Netherlands, 1977)
2008

Tin-glazed earthenware
Edition of 7
Lent by Royal Tichelaar Makkum, Netherlands

Tulip vases, for the display of cultivated cut flowers, became status objects for European royalty and nobility in the late 17th century. Royal Tichelaar Makkum, the oldest ceramic firm in the Netherlands, restored a tulip vase in the Rijksmuseum and then invited four contemporary designers to create new versions. They all loosely conform to the pyramid or pagoda shape of the original vase and use the same materials and techniques.  
The Rijksmuseum vase is almost identical to a pair of vases in the V&A (Museum No. C.19-1982).