The 2023 Passage collection explore the ties between nature and mankind’s intervention therein. A house’s informal entrance, often accessed through a side or back door and traditionally known as the “mudroom” in English country houses and American homes, is the symbolic point of passage from outdoors to indoors, from vegetation to civilization. It seemed a space conducive to creative reflection and inspiration.
Passage collection
Following these reflections, Rinck presents a kind of mise en abymeof its intrinsic connection to matter, to natural materials, paying homage to the very foundations of its trades. By featuring raw wood, or by imitating nature withtrompe-l'oeilpainting recalling onyx, the collection’s elements tease and intrigue the observer. Vegetation is invited to reclaim its rightful place, making this entrance to the home, this transition between two worlds, an embodiment of our uncertainty about our planet’s future, as questions of ecological disaster and climate crisis loom on the horizon.
What will be left of our creations ? Will nature take over ? What if someone were to rediscover this room 500 years from now ? The end of the industrial world may sound frightening, but it could also be a transition in its own right, a time of great hope and new beginnings.
The bench is the quintessence of lightness, with lines of minimalist inspiration and delicate finishes. The combination of solid maple and bird’s eye maple veneers is rendered subtler still by the textile from the Rinck collection designed for Thévenon. This elegant piece is perfect for gracing a mudroom, entrance, or foyer, fitting neatly into small spaces and working equally well alone or in pairs.
For the Passage collection, Rinck presents its version of the chest, a piece that embodies the very essence of Western cabinetmaking and from which stem all successive evolutions of period furniture. It is a modern, visually striking interpretation combining solid and bird’s eye maple, as well as bronze worked into the ivy-leaf trim and handle. The contemporary marquetry on the façade features abstract touches of color forming an intriguing design that fires the imagination.
The console table, as imagined by Rinck’s design experts, is an uncommon interpretation of the ravages of time as seen in a pair of antique-inspired columns that are made to appear aged and worn. Doing so required extremely precise work, an artistic application of decorative paint that impeccably imitates onyx and from which emerges chiseled bronze ivy that winds around the piece and creeps onto the mirror. With its two-tone tabletop in blue-dyed bird’s eye maple and colored lacquer, this piece serves a dual purpose, functioning as both furniture for everyday use, such as in a mudroom or bedroom, and a work of art in its own right.
Though the shelves designed were intended for home use, they also form a sculpture, featuring very precise, deliberate artistic work on the columns that makes them appear broken. This trompe l'oeil is rendered more convincing still by decorative painting that impeccably imitates onyx. A discreet commentary on the environmental footprint left by overconsumption of rare marbles in the décor world.
The umbrella stand is the ultimate sculptural piece, and explores untamed nature’s invasion of human-built structures. The stand’s vase is painted to imitate chipped porcelain, whence emerge climbing ivy stems in hand-chased bronze, for a visually striking and distinctly useful object.