Faye Toogood’s name is practically synonymous with her Roly Poly chair. With its chubby legs and bowl-like seat, the now-iconic piece epitomized the trend toward chunky forms that defined avant-garde furniture design in the 2010s. But the visionary British artist’s contributions go far beyond the chair and its similarly robust companion pieces, in disciplines ranging from textiles and ceramics to fashion and home interiors.
“I design holistically, with an overall vision across fashion, furniture and interiors,” she tells 1stDibs. “Furniture is something I return to over and over again and is a very strong part of this vision. I am interested in humans and the way they live — the spaces they inhabit, the clothes they wear, the objects they surround themselves with.”
After a childhood spent running free in the English countryside with nature as her playground, Toogood studied art history at Bristol University rather than attend art school. Her design approach is underpinned by contrast and understandably informed by art history, particularly the mid-20th-century modernism of such British artists as Barbara Hepworth and Alfred Wallis. “For me, it is about playing around with references and our associations, be that with materials or the precious and the raw, the masculine and the feminine,” she explains. “I’m able to use those contrasts to create friction.”
Toogood has exhibited at Phillips and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the Triennale in Milan and D Museum in Seoul. In addition, her works are in the permanent collections of institutions worldwide, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art; Dallas Museum of Art; Denver Art Museum; High Museum of Art, in Atlanta; Corning Museum of Glass, in New York; the National Gallery of Victoria, in Melbourne; and the Fabergé Museum in St. Petersburg.
Shop furniture designs from Faye Toogood today on 1stDibs.
Contemporary Earthenware Dinner Plate, Interpretation of Traditional Creamware
By Faye Toogood
Located in London, GB
Indigo Storm, 1882 Ltd. with Faye Toogood. Faye Toogood’s range of ceramic designs for 1882 Ltd. celebrates the accidental beauty of natural imperfec...
Ceramic
Earthenware Salad Plate with Interpretations of Traditional Creamware
By Faye Toogood
Located in London, GB
Indigo Storm, 1882 Ltd. with Faye Toogood. Faye Toogood’s range of ceramic designs for 1882 Ltd. celebrates the accidental beauty of natural imperfec...
Ceramic
19th Century French Blue & White Faience Dinner Plate Sarreguemines
By Sarreguemines
Located in Austin, TX
19th Century French blue and white faience dinner plate signed "Francois" Sarreguemines.
Ceramic, Faience
$232Sale Price|38% Off
H 1.19 in Dm 10.5 in
Mason's Ashworth's Ironstone Dinner Plate in Coloured Wall Pattern, circa 1870
By Ashworth Ironstone
Located in Lincoln, Lincolnshire
This is a mid-19th century Mason’s patent ironstone Dinner Plate produced at the time when Mason's was owned and controlled by George L Ashworth after the bankruptcy of C J Mason in ...
Ironstone
$221Sale Price|43% Off
H 1.25 in Dm 9.8 in
William IVth John Ridgway large ironstone Dinner Plate Pattern 5053, Circa 1835
By John Ridgways
Located in Lincoln, Lincolnshire
This is a very decorative, Imperial Stone China (ironstone), large Dinner Plate by John Ridgway, dating to the William IVth period of the 19th cen...
Ironstone
$259Sale Price|27% Off
H 1.13 in Dm 9.75 in
Early 19th Century Pearlware Dinner Plate Blue and White, Staffordshire
By Staffordshire
Located in Lincoln, Lincolnshire
This is a beautiful early plate in a printed blue and white chinoiserie pattern and made of a type of earthenware pottery called pearlware, in the very early 19th century, by one of ...
Pearlware
$254 / item
H 0.39 in Dm 10.62 in
Handmade Rock Ceramic Dinner Plates - Set of 2 - Black & White Splatterware
By OWO Ceramics
Located in Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, AR
One-of-a-kind ceramic dinner plates specially designed to enliven and enrich your table setting and home. Perfect for everyday use, these fun and functional splatter plates have an unmistakable handmade feel and may equally be used as serving dishes. Sold as a set of two, each pottery dinner plate is glazed by hand in a matte glaze with hand-painted black splatters that resemble Pollock’s artistic work. Due to the handcrafted nature, no two are the same, and hand washing...
Ceramic, Pottery, Clay
Majolica Plate Birds with Grapes Sarreguemines, circa 1880
By Sarreguemines
Located in Austin, TX
Majolica plate birds with grapes signed Sarreguemines, circa 1880.
Ceramic, Faience
Ceramic Julia Dinner Plate by Fornasetti for Rosenthal
By Rosenthal, Fornasetti
Located in Atlanta, GA
A "Julia" porcelain plate with surrealism designs by Piero Fornasetti for Rosenthal, an iconic series from 'Temi e variazioni' (“Themes and Va...
Ceramic
$217 / item
H 0.39 in Dm 7.88 in
Handmade Rock Ceramic Dessert Plates - Set of 2 - Black & White Splatterware
By OWO Ceramics
Located in Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, AR
One-of-a-kind ceramic dessert plates specially designed to enliven and enrich your table setting and home. Also perfect for lunch or breakfast, these playful and functional splatter plate...
Ceramic, Clay, Pottery
Majolica Plate with Butterfly and Fruits, circa 1890
Located in Austin, TX
French Majolica plate with a purple butterfly on the centre surrounded by fruits, circa 1890.
Ceramic, Faience
$254Sale Price|62% Off
H 1 in Dm 9.63 in
Georgian Spode Dinner Plate A Ironstone Chinoiserie Pattern No.2283, circa 1820
By Josiah Spode
Located in Lincoln, Lincolnshire
This is a very beautiful hand painted dinner plate, produced by the Spode factory in the late Georgian period, Circa 1820. This is pattern number 2283, the chinoiserie decoration ...
Ironstone
19th Century French Blue & White Faience Dinner Plate Sarreguemines
By Sarreguemines
Located in Austin, TX
19th Century French blue and white faience dinner plate signed "Francois" Sarreguemines.
Ceramic, Faience
Set of Six Antique Hand-Painted Majolica Asparagus Plates, Circa 1900
Located in LA CIOTAT, FR
A charming set of six earthenware hand-painted square asparagus plates, with a pair of Majolica glazed asparagus tips at each of the four corners. In between, sprays of polychrome fl...
Majolica, Porcelain, Ceramic, Paint