Gracieux Accueil (Gracious Reception)

The storage box is an example of the series ‘Objects For An Electronic Age’, designed by Nathalie de Pasquier and George J. Sowden. The two designers were core members of the radical design group Memphis. They first met at the inception of the group and subsequently married. The series was their own project and not directly related to Memphis. However, it employs many features pioneered by the design group: the use of plastic laminates to create a colourful, patterned surface, the use of ornament and the departure from functionality in favour of a vivid sculptural form. With the series the designers intended to mark the transition between mechanically based and electronically based designs.

Storage box · Italy · 1983. Chrome plated steel, painted wood, plastic laminate. By du Pasquier, Nathalie. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.