The Caulis vases are named from the Latin Caulis, translated as “Stem”. Held at an oblique angle, the flower and stem extends from the vase like the stroke of a calligrapher’s pen.

Tom Brooksbank comments: “When I was a child, my mother read me The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, 1900 -1944, Allan and I thought of the book’s miniature planet whilst designing Caulis – the planet with the single flower growing on it. When you put a Chrysanthemum in the Caulis, the marble striations resemble the landscape of the planet with a single outsize flower – it’s a very playful piece.”

The following system is employed to create the Caulis vases; a regular polygon is drawn, it is then cut in half and then in half again. The system works for all even numbered polygon. The product of the system are vases that do the minimum required to support their function, the material is left to be the main actor.

Photographs by Stephen Lenthall