Totem Sconce

It started with a Christmas present. A pottery class in Manhattan, from Kevin to Charlie (they were dating). Charlie, a lighting designer by profession, was a longtime dabbler in ceramics, and the class was a chance to take a deeper dive. He fell in love with slab construction, the process of creating complete pieces from a single rolled sheet of clay. The way you had to plan carefully beforehand, but improvise during the execution. The chance to do something with his hands, after working on a screen all day. Kevin, an interior designer, offered encouragement and inspiration. The work got better and better. Kevin and Charlie got married. Then one day in an antique store, Kevin picked up a Japanese ceramic lamp and said “you could make something like this.” And so he did.

Dumais Made is their debut collection, a complete line of unique handmade ceramics including lamps, candlesticks, vases and more. The pieces combine an elegant simplicity of form with a love for the beautiful imperfections of the process–unfinished edges, mingling glazes, a stray fingerprint. The pair enjoy drawing on classic designs and making them playfully personal, a lamp may be inspired by Jean Michel-Frank, then finished with a Danish cookie roller for a fetching waffled texture. The palette reflects a shared appreciation for subtle-but-striking colors: pale midcentury greens, rich ochres, gentle metallics. These are versatile pieces, designed to fit naturally into a room at first glance, then wow on closer inspection. Produced out of the couple’s Bantam Connecticut Studio, Dumais Made is a labor of love, the product of two perfectionists having fun.