The Brocade Jar features an intricate bottom that emulates Armenian needlelace.

Can a jar make you feel nostalgic? It may sound like a strange question, but once you hold this jar in your hands, you will understand why the TUMO Studios team described it as being “all about the memory of touch.” You can use it as a mini-vase, to collect and store items that tend to get lost, or even as a drinking cup (it’s dishwasher and microwave safe). But our favorite? We like it as is. As a memory jar.

THE DETAILS:

• Designed and handmade by the TUMO Studios team in Armenia 
• Material: clay + glaze. Each item is handmade and has minor variations.
• About 5 inches high and 3 inches wide
• Limited production, less than 50 made 
• Dishwasher and microwave safe 

WHAT IS ARMENIAN NEEDLACE?

Armenian needlelace (Janyak) is a knotted lacemaking practice, said to have descended from net making on the eastern banks of the Mediterranean Sea. Tight knots are tied one by one, which cannot be easily unraveled. This craft was passed down matrilineally, from woman to woman.

Unlike in Europe, where lace was reserved for the nobility, in Armenia, it was used to decorate everyday household objects, from dowries to intimate garments, to heirlooms

The Brocade collection from TUMO Studios, designed by Levon Sargsyan and Ani Petrosyan, takes this application of lace to household objects one step further. They’ve applied Armenian needlelace to ceramics, from serving plates, to bowls, to vases. Not by using knots and thread but by imprinting the pattern directly into the objects.

It’s a clever homage to a millennia-long Armenian practice.

QAMI JAN x TUMO STUDIOS

QAMI JAN is pleased to offer products by TUMO Studios, a free educational program that invites the world's best designers to teach technical workshops to university-age students and young professionals in Armenia, who have a passion for artistry and design. Sales of these items benefit TUMO Studios, which is completely free for its students. QAMI JAN is excited to be the authorized retailer for TUMO Studios in the United States, as we share their passion to cultivate the next generation of Armenian designers and artisans.