Medium Paradox Vase
View Similar Items
Medium Paradox Vase
About the Item
- Creator:Jonathan Adler (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 10 in (25.4 cm)Width: 12 in (30.48 cm)Depth: 4 in (10.16 cm)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:2021
- Production Type:New & Custom(Current Production)
- Estimated Production Time:Available Now
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Napa, CA
- Reference Number:Seller: JA-6031-11stDibs: LU859923122302
Jonathan Adler
Potter-turned-home-design guru Jonathan Adler is a man with a peripatetic mind, inspired in equal parts, it seems, by classic modern design, Surrealism and pop culture.
Although his namesake company has expanded into a mini empire touching just about every aspect of modern living — chairs and ice buckets, wallpaper and menorahs, chandeliers and rugs — made in myriad materials, Adler still creates almost every object in clay first. His guiding principle is a simple one: “I make the stuff I want to surround myself with, and I surround myself with it.”
Adler grew up in a New Jersey farm town. His grandfather became a local judge, and his father returned home after graduating from the University of Chicago. “My pop was a brilliantly talented artist. At one point, he had to decide whether to become an artist or a —,” he pauses, searching for the right word, “person.” His father became a lawyer but spent all his free time in his studio, “making art, unencumbered by the need to make money from it. It was a totally pure pursuit.” Adler’s mother, who had worked at Vogue and moved to the rural town reluctantly, was also creative, and both parents encouraged their three children’s creativity.
When he was 12, Adler went to sleepaway camp, where he threw his first pot. “And it was on,” he says. His parents bought him a pottery wheel, and he spent the remainder of his adolescence elbow-deep in clay. Even while majoring in semiotics and art history at Brown University, he hung out at the nearby Rhode Island School of Design, making pots.
Adler moved to New York City, worked briefly in entertainment, and in 1993 returned to his true love, throwing pots (in exchange for teaching classes) at a Manhattan studio called Mud Sweat & Tears. One day, at Balducci’s food market, he ran into Bill Sofield, an old friend who had recently cofounded, with Thomas O’Brien, the now-legendary Aero Studios, a design firm and shop. Sofield paid a studio visit and promptly gave him an order. Then, another friend introduced Adler to a buyer at Barneys New York, who also wrote an order.
For about three years after Adler began devoting himself to ceramics full-time. Despite the street cred of both Aero and Barneys, he also wasn’t really making enough money to live on. Then, in 1997, he teamed with Aid to Artisans, a nonprofit aimed at creating economic opportunity for skilled artisans in developing countries, and traveled to Peru to hire potters who could follow his designs, thus increasing production.
Adler’s first store opened in 1998, in the Soho shopping mecca in Manhattan. He now operates about two dozen shops, as far-flung as London and Bangkok. During Adler’s trip to Peru, he connected not only with potters but also with several talented weavers and decided to branch out into textiles. Other categories followed, leading him to travel the world in search of artisans who could execute his endless supply of ideas. In India, Adler found a man who’s expert at beadwork; he has his limed furniture made in Indonesia, his honey-colored wood pieces in Vietnam.
After a friend asked him to decorate her house, Adler expanded to interior design, taking on hotels as well as private residences — projects for which he remains “agnostic,” using pieces by other designers. “I really try to get to know my clients and then make them seem more glamorous and more eccentric than they think,” he says. “I see myself as a slimming mirror for them.”
Find Jonathan Adler seating, case pieces, decorative objects and other furniture on 1stDibs.
- Vintage Apothecary Jars, c. 19th CenturyLocated in Napa, CAVintage glass apothecary jars from France, circa 19th century. Various sizes available, please inquire. (Each sold separately $50 to $250 each). Vintage condition.Category
Antique 19th Century French Glass
MaterialsOther
$250 / item - Vintage Blown Glass Wine JarsLocated in Napa, CAVintage blown glass demijohn wine jars in varying shades of green. Approximate available sizing: Large: 20 in. height with 15 in. diameter $...Category
20th Century European Glass
MaterialsGlass
$600 / item - 18th Century Apothecary SignLocated in Napa, CA18th Century Apothecary sign was created with wrought iron, fer forge. Beautiful details of the medical symbol of a winged staff with two snakes intertwined.Category
Antique 18th Century and Earlier Italian Signs
MaterialsWrought Iron
- Romanian Glass JarsLocated in Napa, CARomanian glass storage jars with a deep green and brown color. Irregular surface with natural color striations. Slight variation in size, 5 available.Category
Vintage 1960s Romanian Vases and Vessels
MaterialsGlass
$450 / set - Bench, Medium 4/9Located in Napa, CABronze bench.Category
21st Century and Contemporary Benches
MaterialsBronze
$14,500 - Vintage Iron SconceLocated in Napa, CAVintage iron sconce with two candle holders. Iron is painted green with gold accents and dates back to 1890-1900's.Category
Antique 19th Century French Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsIron
$2,000
- Paradoxical Propulsion' Vase by Comebolism StudioLocated in Beverly Hills, CAThe two rocket motor nozzles act in a symmetrical manner towards the opposite direction, they have shells that can be opened when the power is increased and ultimately the extent of ...Category
2010s Asian Vases
MaterialsStainless Steel
- Medium Guggenheim VaseLocated in Richmond, VAThe Guggenheim Vase is a beautiful, black, architectural vase designed by 101 Copenhagen and hand-finished in Denmark. Due to the hand-finished matte surface, this vase is not suita...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Vases
MaterialsCeramic
- Colisee Medium VaseLocated in Paris, FRVase Colisee Medium with stainless steel structure in chrome finish. Also available in gold plated finish or in blackened chrome finish, on request.Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Vases
MaterialsChrome, Stainless Steel, Gold Plate
$1,976 Sale Price / item20% Off - Daho Medium VaseLocated in Paris, FRVase Daho Medium with all structure in fine porcelain in glazed finish.Category
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Vases
MaterialsPorcelain
$869 Sale Price / item20% Off - Nacre White Medium VaseLocated in Paris, FRVase nacre white medium In lacquered porcelain.Category
21st Century and Contemporary Indonesian Vases
MaterialsPorcelain
$570 Sale Price / item20% Off - Medium White Ceramic VaseLocated in Dallas, TXA modern take on the classic vase, this white ceramic version is a versatile piece for any decor. Designed with a wide base, this design makes it perfect for pairing with larger arrangements. This elegant white ceramic vase...Category
20th Century Mid-Century Modern Vases
MaterialsCeramic
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
Video Tour: Jonathan Adler and Simon Doonan Sheltering at Home on Shelter Island
In our "On Location" series on YouTube and Instagram, top designers share their personal spaces while on lockdown. Here, Jonathan Adler and his husband, fashion commentator Simon Doonan, show us their bold beach house on New York's Shelter Island.
Confessions of a (Semi-Retired) Window Dresser
Even though he's been a writer for two decades, Simon Doonan can’t escape from decorating windows.