Dezeen Magazine

Cornucopia collection by Tableau and Röd Studio

Steel and wool Cornucopia vases are designed to outshine the flowers they hold

Textile design duo Röd Studio has collaborated with Copenhagen studio Tableau to create a series of steel and wool vases informed by the art of pastry decoration.

Named Cornucopia after the horn of plenty, the 15-piece collection features candy-coloured, hand-tufted sleeves adorned with pearls, glitter and horsehair tassels.

Its over-the-top flamboyance is a homage to the cakes of Denmark's oldest konditori (patisserie), the Conditori La Glace, which first opened its doors in 1870.

Konsensus I, Genskær II and Florence II vases by Tableau and Röd Studio
The Cornucopia vases were informed by and shot in the Conditori La Glace

"We were intrigued by its pristine and yet lavishly decorative approach to the art of konditori and used this as the basis for what we like to refer to as the 'new gauche' style of the Cornucopia series," Tableau founder and floral artist Julius Værnes Iversen told Dezeen.

"The very palette and textures we used, pale purples, creams, custards and sponge are almost edible. The signature cakes and desserts of La Glace inspired us to challenge ourselves in creating a sensory experience with the same level of intensity of deliciousness only in an inedible form."

Red and blue Sport II vase from Cornucopia collection by Tableau and Röd Studio
They consist of steel tubes wrapped in hand-tufted wool sleeves

The resulting vases are a study in contrasts, applying an absorbent material like wool to a water-filled vessel but offsetting it against a sleek, cold steel tube.

This reflects both Röd Studio's playful approach to textiles and Tableau's tendency to amp up the raw beauty of floral arrangements through the use of industrial materials, as in the studio's exposed concrete concept store by architect David Thulstrup.

Florence I vase by Tableau and Röd Studio
Tassels of black horsehair adorn the Florence I vase

"With a shared passion for materials, textures and unconventional design solutions, we wish to challenge the prevailing understanding of what a vase can and must be by turning it all inside out, so the vase itself is more expressive than the flowers it is supposed to embrace," said Iversen.

Other unusual vases published on Dezeen include ones made from discarded cigarette buds and a series of jagged, rippled vessels made Swedish designer Jonatan Nilsson using his own custom-built glassblowing machine.

Photography is by Michael Rygaard.