Thalen & Thalen c o n t e m p o r a r y s i l v e r

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Thalen & Thalen c o n t e m p o r a r y s i l v e r

copyright © Thalen & Thalen Sprl, Rue de neuville 24, 4970 Francorchamps Belgium

SOFA 2012

Our catalog for this years SOFA Art Fairs.

We tried to create a catalog showing our contemporary silver objects from various sides, to give you an idea of their beauty. But,.... an image can not replace the emotion, the feeling of the real silver creation.One of our creations became the name “touchable” and is shown at the Zilvermuseum in The Netherlands. “Touchable too” is the second creation in this series and it will be at SOFA.Touchable, not just a name, an ivitation !

Let this catalog be an invitation to visit us at one of the SOFA Art Fairs.We are looking forward to meet you.

rob & jaap thalen.

Penguin This object is called "Penguin...". It might be obvious why we came up with this name. But in fact we designed an artwork to be used on your table. An object that you will touch with pleasure, every time again. If you design a wonderful salade, Penguin will be the perfect match with oil & vinegar... want to add some rough seasalt, the little bowl will hold it for you. material: fine silver 999/000, silver 925/000, acrylicyear: 2012, weight: 28 ouncesdimensions: H x W x D, 8,6 x 10,8 x 3,9 inch

eggshape Not much to explain, experience this object, take it in your hands, hold it. We need not say more...

material: fine silver 999/000, acrylicyear: 2012, weight: 26,5 ouncesdimensions: H x W x D, 6,3 x 5,1 x 5,1 inch

June We were invited to participate the 2010 Silver Trienale in Hanau (Germay) which did take place in June 2010 and did have exhibitions through Europe until February 2012. For our entry we designed a large bowl made of fine silver. In our project we wanted to go just a little more far... a little bigger, looking fragile. Something that would look like a piece of paper that you wrincle and unfold after. We did raise a bowl out of 1mm thick fine silver and the beginning diameter of the sheet was over 65 cm. During the proces of raising we lenghtened the silver to more then 85 cm. What came out was a large fragile looking bowl that we hammered one more time in a way that it looked like the sheet was wrinckeled. The inside of the bowl was sanded to a very delicate surface. The outside of the bowl shows the hammermarks of our very high polished hammers.... In the rim of the bowl we cut out by hand a little story about the creating process of this object material: fine silver 999/000year: 2010 , weight: 109 ouncesdimensions: H x W x D, 8,7 x 20 x 20 inch

Milk & Sugar Daily life, enjoying your coffee or tea in the morning, philosophise about the day to come, or just look at the birds outside. All little rituals that guide you. In this feeling we developed "Milk & Sugar", helpful to contain your milk and sugar, but it draws your attention. You cannot just put the sugarbowl some-where, it will tip over.... it invites you to hold her, take your sugar and guide her back into the stand. At that moment you will experience the physical sensation of the fine silver surface, the structure that we so very carefully and sensitively hammered into this precious metal. "Milk & Sugar" created to enjoy, available only in a very limited edition and you may choose which stand you will use, they come in ebony and in a translucent acrylic.material: fine silver 999/000, silver 925/000, acrylic/ebonyyear: 2012, weight: 18 ouncesdimensions: H x W x D, 5,1 x 10,4 x 3,9 inch

little cone (erosion) Playing with shapes, we were looking at a cone, a little cone floating like an ufo. Its surface in contrast with its shape. An in a way eroded surface that invites you to follow its lines. Put in a high place, it lets you look and enjoy the bottom part, floating just above the acrylic column. We used fine silver to create this object; weight: 7,9 ounces dimensions: H x W x D = 2,9 x 8,5 x 8,5 inch.year 2012

Big cone With our little cone for a start we developed a bigger version, with the differ-ence that this bigger bowl doesn't float. It looks as if this one rises from the table. The other difference is that we hammered the inside of the bowl with this in a way eroded surface that is so tactile. This bowl we gave a text, hand cut in the rim: little wrinkles, like a soft breeze touches water, an invitation to your senses, big cone is my name, let your fingers follow my surface

material: fine silver 999/000, year: 2012, weight: 46 ouncesdimensions: H x W x D, 15 x 15 x 5 inch

Contrast ... This silver bowl created from a sheet of fine silver with a diameter of about 20 inches, weighing over 70 ounces of finest silver. We raised this bowl up to 7,4 inches high and a final diameter of 17 inches. During the process of hammering the silver sheet we decided to give the outside of the bowl a very tactile structure and at the same time making sure the the inner sur-face would be smooth, almost polished... material: fine silver 999/000year: 2012, weight: 73 ouncesdimensions: H x W x D, 7,4 x 17 x 17 inch

Brugge bowl The Bruges bowl is one of the few objects in the show that is made out of sterling silver. Designing this rather flat bowl we needed a silver just a little more rigid than the fine silver that we usually use for our objects. Sterling silver (925/000) would just be the right choice. This bowl has dimensions of Ø 16 inches and a height of 5,5 inches. We used again a rough 70 something ounces of silver. In the rim of this bowl we (hand)cut a poem. It is a moral, written in 1555 in the Belgian city of Bruges. The text in an old Dutch language goes as fol-lows: Die avent ende die moorghen, en zijn niet even vroet; Die moorghen die wil zoorghen, Die avent verteeret tgoet. Wilde die avent zoorghen Als die moorghen doet, Het zoude de meneghe riden, Die nu moet gaan te voet. Rijmspreuk, Brugge 1555

"Sauvage 1" The little sauvage collection (three objects) was created in 2010 for a special exhibit of "sauvage" (wild) jewellery. Sauvage 1 is a handheld silver object with 8 diamonds at the end of four pins that penetrate the ball-end shaped cylinder. We all know the moments when we are at a sometimes boring cocktail party holding on to our glass.... Sauvage 1 (and 2) are designed to hold on to and will cause some conversa-tion with the people surrounding you.... The wild part ..... you ask? Papua tribes in New Guinea use these kinds of shapes to cover their very intimate part... Sauvage 2 is made of Sterling silver 925/000, contains 8 diamonds, weighs aprox 3,6 ounces and has dimensions of 3 x 4 x 3 inches

"Sauvage 2" The little sauvage collection (three objects) was created in 2010 for a special exhibit of "sauvage" (wild) jewellery. Sauvage 2 is a handheld silver object with 10 diamonds at the end of five pins that penetrate the ball-end shaped cylinder. We all know the moments when we are at a sometimes boring cocktail party holding on to our glass.... Sauvage 1 and 2 are designed to hold on to and will cause some conversa-tion with the people surrounding you.... The wild part ..... you ask? Papua tribes in New Guinea use these kinds of shapes to cover their very intimate part... Sauvage 2 is made of Sterling silver 925/000 with a black patina, contains 10 diamonds, weighs aprox 4,5 ounces and has dimensions of 3 x 4,7 x 3,5 inches

"Sauvage necklace" The little sauvage collection (three objects) was created in 2010 for a special exhibit of "sauvage" (wild) jewellery. Sauvage necklace is a more "regular" jewellery object with diamonds at the end of four pins that penetrate the ball-end shaped cylinder. At the top end of the cylinder we also imbedded diamonds. In this object we totally placed 20 diamonds. Sauvage necklace is designed to cause some conversation with the people surrounding you.... The wild part ..... you ask? Papua tribes in New Guinea use these kinds of shapes to cover their very intimate part... Sauvage necklace is made of Sterling silver 925/000, with a black patina, contains 20 diamonds, weighs aprox 1,1 ounces and has dimensions of 1,5 x 4 x 1,5 inches

"I light you" A little ship containing a number of lights to guide your way.... other peo-ple think it more resembles a sea animalwith legs and pins... You ar free to invent your story with this object. What we can tell you, is that I-light you is made of sterling silver 925/000 with a warm black patina, it weighs aprox 42 ounces and has dimensions of 8,6 x 11,8 x 5 inches

Black Bowl Playing with simple shapes, inside and out. Two little bowl shapes, one inside the other, constructed in such a way that the object will always tilt a little to one side. Little black bowl is created in Sterling Silver 925/000, weighs aprox. 12 ounces and has dimensions of 3,5 x 5 x 5 inches.

"Bullion to bowl" Bullion to bowl is a little project we did to show our clients that silver is not only a good investment if you buy a bullion, but if you already own some bullions, why not enjoy more of them... We melted an one kilo bullion and transformed it into a small heavy vessel. Now, value also has a shape and it might make you smile when you see it, feel it, enjoy it. This object is made of 35,27 ounces of fine silver ans measures 7,4 x 4,7 x 3,5 inches

Layered bowl In the concept of one bowl inside the other we created this object in a way that two bowls are connected in one object without "touching" each other... A third element, a partly transparent ball shaped object makes the connec-tion between the bowls.... Layered bowl is created in Sterling silver 925/000, the outside is highly pol-ished and the inside is hand brushed. This object weighs approximately 20 ounces and has dimensions of 4,5 x 6,3 x 6,3 inches.

Follow 1 Our silver objects in the “Follow” series take their name from the method in which we follow the movements of the silver in forging it. The beginning of each shell is formed by a rectangular, oval or round plate of fine silver 999 ‰ of 1 mm thickness. A process involving tens of thousands of minute hammer beats slowly and little by little form the shape of the bowl. For the exceptional quality of fine silver fully to show, we leave the hammer marks visible and tangible. In the next step we brush the surface ever so gently and light with glass beads. In the last part of the operation the upper edge of the object is ever so slightly melted (by means of a TIG welding torch) to a shiny edge. Follow 1 weighs 39 ounces and has dimensions of 5,5 x 12.5 x 10 inches.

Follow 2 Our silver objects in the “Follow” series take their name from the method in which we follow the movements of the silver in forging it. The beginning of each shell is formed by a rectangular, oval or round plate of fine silver 999 ‰ of 1 mm thickness. A process involving tens of thousands of minute hammer beats slowly and little by little form the shape of the bowl. For the exceptional quality of fine silver fully to show, we leave the hammer marks visible and tangible. In the next step we brush the surface ever so gently and light with glass beads. In the last part of the operation the upper edge of the object is ever so slightly melted (by means of a TIG welding torch) to a shiny edge. Follow 2 weighs 44 ounces and has dimensions of 5 x 13,7 x 10 inches.

"Found in the forest" Sometimes we do not have to look far for inspiration to hit. A walk in the forest just across the valley at our workshop created the inspiration in which this shape was born.... From the outset on it was clear that these objects had to be made from the purest silver available 999 ‰... Forms may be reminiscent of pine cones or acorns, viewed from the top as if they were cracked open. The skin of these objects was marked by the pressing of the hammer blows. Precisely in spiral lines rising from the bottom. This very bottom makes the object free from the idea of an imitation of an “object trouvé” .(a found item).. From that flat bottom the circular shape arises. material: fine silver 999/000year: 2009, weight: 25,5 ouncesdimensions: H x W x D; 6,2 x 5,9 x 5,9 inch

Mega bowl 01 Looking for the limits of what is possible in contemporary silver objects, we decided to make a serie of bowls in fine silver.... in a size that exceeds every possible imagination... After a long search we found a way to create fine silver 999/000 objects on a very large scale. The starting point for this project is a large 15 kilo sheet of fine silver with dimensions of one square meter and a thickness of 1.5 mm ... With this as a base we will create a number of large and high bowls, for which we find inspiration in two very different directions. First, there are influences of Roman amphoras and secondly, they refer to wide open land-scapes, eroded and attacked by the sun and wind. From the flat silver sheet, we design, raise and “pull” the object into the final result. A process that takes many hundreds of thousands hammer blows from our highly polished hammers. During this process, the silver plate needs to be annealed and cooled many times to make the silver pliable again.During the hammering process the dimensions of the silver sheet will increase more than 35%. At the top of some of the objects the diameter will be less than twenty centim-eters. All these changes in the material take place only by our hammering process. No cutting or welding techniques will be used to shape the objects. Some of the creations will be provided with a “cut out” text that the personal story of each object reflects. All the objects will have this “silky” touch, so typical for the use of fine silver. Of course, all our works will be marked with the famous silver stamps, guar-antee for quality and origin and an important “tracing possibility” for collec-tors. MegaBowl 1 weighs some 460 ounces and has dimensions of 22,5 x 14 x 16 inches.

"Theater for Bonbons" “Bonbon tres luxury”. What happens if the value of something becomes gro-tesque. Is that the little dog with a collar full of diamonds? Or does it happen when we buy some incredible nice chocolates that we do not dare to eat? This we asked ourselves when we decided to build a “container” where something really good can be stored. The front was made of fine silver 999 ‰ and refers to the “bidonvilles” (shanty town) as a warning. We have “built” a window to look inside and see what is present .... Some-times the object is empty and you’ll come face to face with yourself. The use of transparency, challenges the user to give colourful objects for safekeeping. “Bonbon tres luxe” is a luxury item that will show patina by its use and again and again challenges to the use of coloured items, but it will also ask the user to face himself in the reflection of the interior. material: fine silver 999/000, silver 925/000, acrylicyear: 2011, weight: 56 ouncesdimensions: H x W x D; 7,6 x 6 x 5,5 inch

RockyMountain Bowl It was in a little cabin in Montana where we found a little poem that touched us deeply. We decided to name one of our bowls after the rough nature envi-ronment, give the surface of the bowl this very tactile silky touch and make the bowl so rigid that - if you touch it - it will vibrate for a long time, like the wind makes waves on the lake. We only made one change to the poem.... In the last sentence it said "to nobody's house I go". This we changed: "to somebody's house..." Over the mountains and through the woods, down the river and up the canyon , over the boulders and through the stream to somebody's house I go. RockyMountain Bowl was created in 2010, is made of Sterling silver 925/000 and after we silverplated this objects with fine silver. It weighs aproximately 77 ounces and has the following dimensions 9 x 16 x 16 inches.

"Resistance" Our "restitance" bowl is in fact an experiment. We used a sheet of Sterling silver and decided that we would continue to hammer and raise it without annealing until it would want to crack.... Something we would never do. Dur-ing the "normal" proces of raising a bowl you should anneal the object many time to prevent the silver from cracking. In this case we wanted to commu-nicate with the silver in such a way that we would the limits of its possibili-ties... Resistance Bowl is the result. It weighs 18,6 ounces and has dimensions of 5,1 x 7,5 x 7,5 inches

Spoons Maybe everyone of us will use some sort of spoons on a daily basis... Do you remember the spoon you used last night? It is very well possible that you don't. With our little coffee or tea spoon, we want to make the spoon personal again. Each spoon is made from a little sheet of fine silver 999/000 with a certain dimension. During the hammering and forging process we shape them individually. For this reason they might look similar, but they are all different. We do enjoy making tem and making sure that the tactile quality is there ..... in every single piece. Never to forget what your spoon can look and feel like.

"WindyCityBowl" The number two bowl in our MegaBowl series. Created in 2011 and unveiled at the SOFA Chicago Art Fair in November 2011. We kept a diary of the work in progress and we can tell you that it took us more than three months to create this object. As we did explain in this catalog with the MegaBowl 01 we have been look-ing for the limits of what is possible in the making of silver vessels. Windy-CityBowl is one of them. We named it after the windy city Chicago, after we visited this great place in the winter of 2010. Looking at the elements fighting the high rise buildings, gave us the inspiration to build a vessel that would bend in the wind, withstanding its force and showing the erosion that is caused by these elements, leaving very tactile traces on the surface of this object. The WindyCityBowl measures 27 x 15 x 16 inches and weighs over 460 ounces of fine silver...

"Waterjug" This vessel is the result of the inspiration we found looking at an old ewer... Creating this vessel we used a roughly 80 ounces of fine silver to show that using this object is not its first option, because of its weight and the fact that we are connected to tap-water for our bathroom supply... And we made a second link to the fact that this vessel is "not in use" anymore. The old ew-ers mostly would drip... we made silver drips on the rim of the vessel. The acrylic handle..? feel it, enjoy it and you will know. Our waterjug has dimensions of 11,8 x 8,2 x 8,5 inches.

Touchable too We are a little lost ... A sense and not only, or perhaps the physica lsense o ftouching silver. Where we usedto touchthe teaspoons of grandma every Sunday and follow our fin-ger along the surface of the image, we now have spoons in all sorts of mate-rials from stainless steel to plastic ... Maybe a bit exaggerated, but visiting a museum, what can you still touch? Of course some parts of a collection are fragile and by touching a high risk occurs of (further) damage. A disadvantage of this approach is that the sensation of touching is lost .. In our quest to use silver as material to shape our forms we try to achieve the tactile element to play a major role. Our search in this case is about ero-sion. Landscapes that have been eroded by the elements. What takes place out there in nature, we try to bring back in the surface structure of our ob-jects . Objects, which as it were, built up by these elements. Curved by the wind, achieving a delicate balance. Shapes that, unlike images, are intended to touch. With your fingers along the fine silver traces, to explore the surface tension and eventually fall a little bit in love ... "Touchable" name and invitation! Touchable too is created in fine silver 999/000, weighs 59 ounces and has dimensions of 15 x 9,4 x 8,7 inches.

"tea set in wood" As we found some wonderful pieces walnut root veneer, we came up with the idea to create another tea-set. This time we wanted to design a box that would hide the silver elements. A box that serves at the same time as an ac-tive element of this tea-set. The little veneer elements were very fragile so we imbedded them in acrylic... The silver elements are created in fine silver 999/000. A little teapot, milk & sugar vessels and a container for chocolates.. In the box there is also a little drawer to keep your tea. Tea-set in wood has dimensions of 7,8 x 11,8 x 6,6 inches

Oval bowl Oval bowl is an exiting little pointed bowl that we created in fine silver 999/000. It has a subtle balance and likes to rock on your table. This little bowl weighs 13,3 ounces and has dimensions of 3,9 x 9 x 6 inches.

Thalen & Thalencontemporary silver

Rue de Neuville 244970 Francorchamps, Belgiumphone: +32 87 270918cell: +32 473842435cell: +32 477 610446mail: thalen.thalen@gmail.comwww.belgiansilverworks.comwww.thalen-thalen.com

Thalen & Thalen c o n t e m p o r a r y s i l v e r

Thalen & Thalen c o n t e m p o r a r y s i l v e r