Nuria Blanco
Madrid is home to craftspeople and artists who are keen for you to be able to have the table set just the way your guests deserve! These sets of dinnerware are unique, no two are alike! They are true works of art to feast your eyes on.
Thanks to her experience as an artist and her penchant for experimentation, Nuria Blanco has managed to breathe life into the most mundane objects. Ms. Blanco applies herself to each piece as if it were a canvas, allowing her imagination to weave its magic until her different motifs finally emerge on the surface as a story. Her creations are veritable jewels, small works of art decorated by hand that seek to compose a painting on the table. Her dishes are designed to allow guests to enjoy their meals together in a fun and special way. Made entirely by hand, each dinner service has its own exclusive design and she also customises everything to the client’s personal specifications.
Behind Andrea Zarraluqui there lies the soul of an artist who grew up in both London and Jerez de la Frontera. Her work is a perfect combination of craftsmanship and modernity, a fusion that allows her to design exclusive, elegant, fun and really colourful pieces! Her creations spring forth quite spontaneously and are inspired by botanical illustrations, textile patterns, wallpapers, antique prints, nature and long walks in the countryside. Her tableware abounds with wildflowers, birds of paradise, butterflies… It all comes down to instinct.
“We paint for people who enjoy the value of things made by hand, a charming home, and convivial after-dinner conversation”. That’s what Carmen Muñoz and her daughter Gabriela tell us: they both have a passion for porcelain and well-laid tables. They draw inspiration from everything they encounter: the art, nature, cinema, literature and fashion of the many countries in which they have lived (South Africa, Morocco, Japan…). Each piece requires hours and hours of design and painting and they never release anything that fails to arouse a sense of excitement and satisfaction in them. They will be happy to welcome you to their shop cum workshop, where you can buy a ready-made dinner set or place your own order. Their dinner sets are totally exclusive.
Design, tradition and modernity. These are the three pillars on which this firm, which specialises in creating hand-made pieces of the finest china, albeit with a deliberately imperfect finish, is based. No two are alike! Their hallmark is the lightness and special texture of each one of their creations. A recommendation: hold them gently in your hands to really get the feel of them.
“I can’t remember a time when I didn’t paint”, says Ana, a painter and restorer with more than 25 years of professional experience, five of which have been dedicated to capturing her art on porcelain. “It’s an enthralling and quite unique technique. I think it’s a great way to express myself and to reach more people. Not everyone has paintings in their home, but they do have plates and cups and I can personalise them down to the last detail.” Her oven works day and night to produce tableware that is absolutely delightful.
Eva Llamas has been in love with ceramics ever since she was a little girl when she would visit homeware shops with her grandmother. One day, tired of shopping for and never finding beautiful plates, cups or bowls that conveyed unique stories or special sensations, she decided to make them herself. So now clay, porcelain and glazes are part and parcel of her slow universe that she says is “full of satisfaction and freedom”. Rustic in style, with romantic textures and touches, Eva’s work is inspired by the land, nature and the sea.
Her work is a veritable declaration of intent. Designer Almudena Martín del Valle creates contemporary pottery from the ashes of forest fires and the character of the place they come from. “Fire is a process of destruction, but because they are created by fire, ceramics reverse that process. That’s how a piece of pottery becomes what it is: something strong, beautiful and lasting.”
Chichinabo’s original personalised tableware has become the perfect gift. You just have to give them an idea or tell them a story and they’ll translate it all to plates, trays or cups. Everything is totally handmade here, and of course that takes time. But in about five weeks you’ll be able to provide the unwitting recipient of these pieces with a lovely surprise, which can also include a dedication.
María José González-Moro, Marta Cotoner and Juqui Suárez de Lezo share the same passion: “tableware and a well-set table”. They are specialists in the art of receiving guests which is why they offer their clients hand painted or individually manufactured pieces of Limoges porcelain with their own designs. Their tableware is very colourful and eclectic, modern and with an air of freshness, but without straying too far from tradition.
The work of this painter, who has a degree in Fine Arts from Complutense University of Madrid, contains elements, colour, forms and drawing that are arranged with “no hierarchy whatsoever” and without submitting to logic, unfolding rather in an anarchy ordered by the imagination where the medium is itself the protagonist of its mysterious and disturbing scenarios. She developed an interest in ceramics during the recent lockdown. The result? Genuine works of art.
Silvia is intent on creating functional pieces that are perfect for everyday use. She works with porcelain, but also with china and stoneware. What is never missing from her tableware are details in gloss gold. The motifs she uses to paint her pieces take their inspiration from nature, sometimes combined with geometric elements.
“With ceramics I can create pieces that you can actually feel and touch, as opposed to the technological world that surrounds us, and that is something that gives me great satisfaction.” So says Débora Abizanda, who makes beautiful tableware at her shop cum studio in the Lavapiés district. This includes her “Textures” stoneware collections that she makes by hand in different colours with gold decoration, or her Suminagashi range, with its marble effect, inspired by coloured gouaches created on paper by the Japanese technique, and Ergo, with its rather more natural and soft forms.
Favorito is a ceramic studio where they create delicate objects using traditional glazing and firing techniques. All their pieces are handmade from start to finish, so each one is quite unique. Each object is the result of time, care and painstaking work. They make tableware to order.
Silvia Roba