Jenni Kayne x Dumais Made: Our Refined Ceramic Collaboration Has Arrived

Rip & Tan: What was your vision for the collection? 

Charlie Dumais: When I think of Jenni and her work, the word that comes to mind is softness. It’s her combination of color, tone, texture, lightness, ease and approachability. I was struck by an image on Jenni’s site of a parent walking on a beach, holding hands with her child. I grew up by the beach and this resonated with me. A tiny blondie, barefoot in the sand, in a chunky sweater with the cuffs rolled up, walking towards the water. Close your eyes. You’ve been there. This was the vibe. Immediately. 

Our work is very architectural—and for Jenni, I wanted to introduce a more organic approach. I wanted the pieces to feel like they might have been found in the sand, bleached from the sun, and softened by the sea.

Rip & Tan: Tell us about your collaborative process with Jenni.

Charlie Dumais: Every collaboration begins with a conversation, and if it’s going well, that conversation doesn’t end. We discussed the type of pieces for the collection, the scale, and our existing work that she was drawn to. It was important to know firsthand what she thought might be missing from her current offering or what might complement it. 

I started sketching and collecting bits of inspiration, found objects, this and that. I pulled images from Jenni’s designs, but mostly fashion—close ups of cable knits, cashmere, images from the beach and Jenni’s interiors. And, as I typically do, I simultaneously started playing with clay, building maquettes and prototypes. And once I felt it was cohesive enough, we presented the approach to the team. It was fairly seamless from then on. We discussed slight adjustments, reviewed samples, simplified some materials, and tested glazes. It might have been the fastest collaboration because I think the connection was there from the start. We got each other.

Rip & Tan: Can you walk us through the start-to-finish process of creating one of your pieces?

Charlie Dumais: After a piece is sketched, we create chip-board templates. We then roll blocks of clay into sheets and once they have stiffened we cut out the templates to set aside the pieces for assembly. For the lamps and tall vessels, we formed cylinders and let them rest and stiffen a bit so then I could go through and softly indent them with my hands to create the movement and organic sculptural quality. Therefore, each lamp and vessel in this collection is completely unique. No two are alike.

Once the assemblage is complete, the pieces are stamped and trimmed (holes cut, edges cleaned, leveled). After slow drying for up to 10 days the pieces are unwrapped and bisque fired. This allows us to apply glaze, which is applied by dipping the pieces to achieve an even application. Once glaze-fired, the pieces are inspected. And if they pass, they are finished, wired in some cases, and fitted for shades. Then they are meticulously packaged and sent off.

Rip & Tan: Describe the atmosphere of an ideal afternoon in your studio. 

Charlie Dumais: Blue skies, windows open, good music, and laughter.

Rip & Tan: What defines a Dumais Made design? Is there a particular style or mood you aim to evoke?

Charlie Dumais: Honesty. Our pieces tell stories, but the most important one is how they were made. Our seams are exposed when the construction allows. The canvas texture is a result of forcing the clay into flat sheets through a slab roller. It is never removed. Rolled patterns might not always align or be perfectly consistent, but reveal the pressure of a hand, and some of our hands are stronger. The glaze is always done by me, and even the cleanest dips and the most controlled applications will have variations, like a drip, or a slight crawl, or a coloration because of a foreign mineral in the clay. They look simple and straightforward, but if you look closer, you can always find more.

Rip & Tan: How do you go about balancing form with function?

Charlie Dumais: It doesn’t matter how inventive, or sculptural, or beautiful, or simple, a design is if it doesn’t work. From the start we approach each piece like architects. Will it be structurally sound? Will it wilt in a high firing? Will it retain its shape? Does it need support, or thicker walls? Can it easily be knocked over? Is it friendly? These are all the questions we ask as we create maquettes and then prototypes. And then of course, we use a level.

Rip & Tan: What’s been inspiring you lately?

Charlie Dumais: We just left Sicily and I am working on a collection inspired by the trip. I don’t want to give too much away, but I will say this collection is going to focus on texture and abundance. There’s something fascinating I learned on this trip. While there, I fell in love with Moorish heads and was shocked to read the history behind them. These are everywhere in Sicily. Look it up. You will find them atop posts, walls, stairs, on ledges, terraces, balconies, and roofs. They’re a symbol of eternal love but—more interestingly—of murder and passion. 

There’s a legend that a young woman was on her terrace tending to her flowers she loved, when a dashing Moorish gentleman passed by her home and fell in love with her. She fell in love with him too, but was crushed to learn he hid the fact that he was married with children and was soon leaving to be with his family, somewhere afar. So what did she do? She beheaded him in his sleep and made his head into a pot that she placed on her terrace. She planted a bud of basil in it and watered it with her tears. It became the envy of her neighbors, and so they began commissioning their own pots out of terracotta—and so the tradition began. 

Another tale goes that ceramic pots symbolize the impossible love of a young couple, when a young Sicilian girl fell in love with an Arab. Once their families found out, they beheaded them both and displayed them as warnings. This is why you mostly see them in pairs. Either way, they are ebullient yet sad or beautiful and sometimes extravagant and sometimes humble. That a ceramic piece can become a symbol, a lasting tradition, and continue to tell a story for generations is incredibly inspiring to me.