Kelly Klein | Ceramicist 

In Friesland, on the edge of the former Zuiderzee, a small community developed a costume unlike any other in the Netherlands. The Hindeloopen dress was not only distinctive in appearance but remarkable in its making, combining imported textiles with local forms in a tradition of craft that carried both meaning and memory.

A true custodian of decorative tradition, Roger Newton began his career in 1955 at the legendary Colefax and Fowler studio, where he mastered the art of furniture painting, gilding and lacquering. His King’s Road workshop soon became renowned for its refined craftsmanship, attracting commissions from private collectors and historic houses alike. Now based in Shropshire, Roger continues to teach the centuries-old techniques of gilding and painted finishes.

With a background in oil painting and a formative apprenticeship, Giovanni Bressana approaches his craft with the fervour of a true vocation. Today, he is among the most sought-after fresco artists working in the field. His style shifts effortlessly across subjects and historical periods, a versatility honed through years of rigorous training, during which he tirelessly practiced exacting copies of the Old Masters and disciplined his hand to move with speed and precision.

Among the most exquisite and culturally resonant forms of Indigenous American artistry, Washoe basketry stands testament to ancestral knowledge, dexterous craftsmanship, and the intimate dialogue between maker and material. A new book by Rizzoli celebrates a technique that has always been present in American collections, revealing the profound meanings - linked to cosmology, family memories, and a strong sense of unity between utility and beauty - that Native women have infused into natural fibers for generations.

Nestled within a historic courtyard with distinctive yellow walls, the Fumagalli and Dossi Gypsotheque stands today as the only surviving heir of the gypsotheques tradition. The plaster reproductions are still handcrafted by the two artisans after whom the workshop is named, drawing on a captivating archive of moulds passed down by their predecessors to shape their sculptural repertoire.

Ebony Russell’s porcelain sculptures might look like confections, swirls of piped icing frozen mid-drip, but they are anything but delicate. Using a technique that transforms cake decorating into architectural form, Russell crafts gravity-defying pieces that celebrate excess, ornament, and the overlooked beauty of feminine coded traditions. Working in her Sydney studio, she reclaims decoration as structure.

The village of Burneside, on the edge of England’s Lake District, has been a water mill village for centuries. Its centerpiece, the James Cropper Mill—the oldest family-owned paper mill in the UK—traces its roots to 1746, when the village’s wool mill was converted for paper-making and sold to James Cropper in 1845. Today, James’ great-great-great-grandson, Mark Cropper, carries the family legacy with renewed fervour and a clear sense of purpose: to revive and safeguard the endangered art of handmade paper-making.

Renowned Colombian architect and textile designer, Jorge Lizarazo, has spent nearly 25 years creating distinctive textiles by combining unique and unexpected fibres in Hechizoo, his Bogotá atelier, and weaving light, nature and tradition into his work.

Born in Lima, Carlos Runcie Tanaka has built a passionate and poetic body of ceramic work, nurtured by the cultural blend of his British, Japanese and Peruvian heritage, and his continuous exploration of the past, the land and the power of fire. Over his 50 years as a professional ceramicist, Carlos has sought to elevate the recognition and value of ceramics amidst the visual arts in Perú.

In a world of ephemera and mass production, Asprey values the enduring beauty of the well-made, the deeply known, and the patiently crafted. Read on to discover five extraordinary objects crafted in collaboration with skilled artisans around the world.

Since coming to clay after a successful career in fashion and photography, American designer and ceramicist Kelly Klein has impressed with her strikingly quiet, monochrome vessels. She talks Cabana through her, mostly self-taught, journey to craftsmanship.

Alaskan artist and wood carver, Erin Ggaadimits Ivalu Gingrich, grew up with a profound awareness of Indigenous traditions, cultures and crafts. Her masks and sculptural works are strongly influenced by Indigenous communities, time spent on homelands or wildplaces, research in museum collections, and visiting cultural belongings.