Jurgen Bey


74 Minutes Cup and Saucer, 2003
earthenware/faience

Machine or handmade? Old or new? Bastard or design icon? Or all in one? This cup and saucer look a bit weird, unfinished, sloppy. The first impression is unsettling, the decoration seems contradictory to the well-cared for forms of the cup: the undulating border, the three funny little feet and the nice ornamental handle. In its forms this cup and saucer are almost classical. This crockery is a hybrid.

The borderlines between industry and craft are not as sharp as people tend to think. Royal Tichelaar Makkum, the oldest factory in the Netherlands, produces handmade earthenware in the faience technique. Age old recipes and techniques are cherished here. Some ten years ago Jan Tichelaar, the 13th generation director of this family business, decided to change the policy not to become tied up by history and tradition. Since then top designers have been engaged. Faced with the request to find new decoration methods, Jurgen Bey went deeply into traditional techniques and recipes. In his view time is crucial in hand painting and therefore became the subject of his ‘Minutes Service’ design. By combining different moulds, new forms were generated. The under painting, normally made with charcoal and not meant to be seen, was now glazed, while the decorator, Fokke Hamstra, only got a certain amount of time to paint his decoration. This cup is part of the ‘1132 Minutes 6-Parts Service’.

Liesbeth den Besten

Jurgen Bey (b. 1965 Soest) is a designer, who works in Rotterdam.
Royal Tichelaar Makkum (founded 1670 in Makkum) is a ceramic company based in the province of Friesland.

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