OUR WORKSHOPS
Two workshops. Two ceramic cultures
OrienX develops its original designs with two fixed workshop partners: one in Jingdezhen, one in Arita. The places remain distinct; the attention given to use, proportion, material, and continuity is shared.
A CONTINUING RELATIONSHIP
A workshop is not simply where an object is produced
Here, a drawing meets knowledge of clay and glaze. An intended gesture becomes something that can be tested by hand, while the experience of earlier pieces informs the next collection. With our two regular partners, development is a continuing exchange between the design and what the material makes possible.
01 — JINGDEZHEN
Development begins with a shared question: how should the object live?
OrienX shares an original drawing with the intended use, key proportions, points of contact and the place of the piece within its collection. The Jingdezhen workshop brings its knowledge of material and production to this brief, translating the intention into a prototype and identifying the constraints of making it.
The first sample is handled, placed on a table, compared with reference pieces, and discussed from several angles. The rim, foot, weight, balance, glaze response, and ease of repeated making are reviewed before a direction is retained.
These observations inform the next adjustments. OrienX keeps the collection direction in view and approves the final design, while the workshop considers feasibility and consistency in making. The sample gives both sides a concrete basis for deciding which details to preserve and which to refine.
BETWEEN THE TWO PLACES
The same intention travels. Each place answers in its own voice
We do not ask Jingdezhen and Arita to look alike. OrienX protects the clarity of the design while leaving room for the knowledge that belongs to each workshop, its materials, and its working context.
02 — ARITA
A second workshop, a distinct conversation with material
In Arita, development starts with clear questions: what is the object for, how should it be held or placed, and how does it belong to the series? The workshop brings its own production knowledge to the answers, within the ceramic culture of Saga, Japan.
Prototypes make disagreements useful. A profile can be softened, a base corrected, a glaze adjusted, or a detail removed when it distracts from use. The goal is not to accumulate effects; it is to keep only what makes the piece more coherent.
The sample is reviewed against the original intention through handling and comparison with reference pieces. Visual appeal, stability and the relationship to the table are considered together. Approved references and corrections are retained, so that future development can build on the work already done.
WHAT GUIDES DEVELOPMENT
From the first drawing to a piece for daily life
A detail becomes meaningful when it changes the experience of using the object. Throughout development, the same questions help us look beyond an attractive silhouette and consider the piece as part of a table, a gesture and a collection.
A form with a purpose
The opening, rim and proportions respond to an intended use. The drawing gives these choices a direction that remains useful when a sample is reviewed.
Material that shapes the design
Clay and glaze bring their own possibilities and constraints. The prototype makes their effect on the surface, weight and balance tangible.
A place within the collection
Seen alongside reference pieces, a sample reveals how its proportions and character relate to the series. Comparison helps keep the whole collection coherent.
WHAT THIS RELATIONSHIP PROTECTS
Different origins remain visible. The object still belongs in daily life
For OrienX, the origin of a piece is connected to the people and decisions that give it form. The partnerships in Jingdezhen and Arita bring different experience to this work, while a shared attention to daily use gives the collections their direction.
What matters in the end is the encounter with the object: the feeling of a rim, a steady base, a surface that catches the light. These details invite the pieces into ordinary moments, to be used and enjoyed as part of your own table.