Design Seen: Silver Up and Down
November 4, 2003
If at first you aren’t quite sure what to make of the versatile silver products from Peddada, you are not alone. "I was flagged down by customs on my way through the Canadian border because they thought my designs were nuclear devices," says company president and designer, Raju Peddada. "It took four hours to explain that they were just decorative accessories."
Each of the 17 pieces in the Peddada collection is designed so that it can be rotated to serve multiple uses. Peddada describes them as "biomorphic transgressions, crossovers—one product performs a number of different functions." Turned one way, a piece can hold candles and flowers. Turn it around, add a glass bowl, and it can hold anything from candy to keys. Each is handcrafted by fifth- or sixth-generation silversmiths in Italy, and each is individually numbered and stamped. "It’s really a painstaking process," says Peddada. "Essentially, they are doing the impossible by creating dimples and craters on silver. Our silversmiths say it’s the hardest thing they have ever had to work on."
The offbeat modernism that Peddada’s designs encapsulate may defy conventionalism, but he is content to avoid becoming mainstream. "I’m not one of those designers who believes in designing for everyone," he says. "These are for people who have reached the pinnacle of their intellectual pursuits, who appreciate fine art, and for whom cost is no object."
Peddada, 847.298.3611, www.peddada.com
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