The Netherlands, b 1963

The Dutch conceptual designer Hella Jongerius works on the cusp of design, craft, art and technology to fuse traditional and contemporary influences, high and low tech, the industrial and artisanal. A graduate of acclaimed Eindhoven Design Academy she has since worked for various companies such as Droog, Royal Tichelaar Makkum and now Nymphenburg.

For them she has created a series of luxurious, but subtly seditious, bowls and plates called Nymphenburg Sketches. The bowls have animal figurines marooned surreally in the centre, and are spectacular examples of high-end kitsch, draped in opulent patterns spilling on to the base. They are all uniquely hand painted but part of general production. The plates are adorned with exquisite hand-painted motifs, such as flowers and butterflies, cherry-picked from the company’s historic pattern books. These images are juxtaposed with workaday markings, such as factory stamps and colour trials, which draw attention to the hidden processes behind Nymphenburg’s otherwise immaculate products. Each plate is unique and highly collectible, with a random selection of fixed motifs per plate.