‘les poupees’ by luca nichetto for gallery pascale image © alexander lagergren

‘les poupées’ (meaning ‘dolls’ in french) is the work of italian-born designer luca nichetto for french gallerist pascale cottard olsson in stockholm. the series consists of a ceramic candle holder and a glass vase in a range of colours and dimensions, each functioning as an individual piece but composable into a single object with a loosely doll-like form.

nichetto’s goal with ‘les poupées’ was to capture the different cultures at work in the collaboration, drawing from the simple glasswork of finnish artist timo sarpaneva, the colourful assemblages of italian architect ettore sottsas’s totem vessels, his own family’s heritage as murano glassmakers, and the forms of japanese wooden kokeshi dolls.

luca nichetto: les poupées collection of ‘les poupées’ image © jason strong

luca nichetto: les poupées the object separated into ceramic candle holder and a glass vase image © jason strong

luca nichetto: les poupées full view image © jason strong

luca nichetto: les poupées closer view image © jason strong

luca nichetto: les poupées the influences behind ‘les poupées’ (left to right): ettore sottsas’s totem vessels; japanese kokeshi dolls; timo sarpaneva’s glasswork

luca nichetto: les poupées concept sketches