Rūtsu Side Table

Dimensions
L60 x W56 x H62 cm

Materials
Black sandstone and smoked ash

Rūtsu—roots, in Japanese—a word that binds nature and humanity in an unbroken circle, where one cannot exist without the other. Created collaboratively by Aude Bray-Deperne and Alexandre Labruyère, Rūtsu is an inner landscape composed of ceramic plates supported by a wooden base. An intimate and silent territory, shaped by the waves of existence, it becomes a refuge, a place of contemplation and rebirth.

Autumn, a season of transformation and quiet preparation, invites nature to withdraw only to rise anew. Leaves detach, drift, and gather—layer upon layer, a living tapestry unfolds beneath our feet. For each fallen leaf is both shield and sustenance: a fragile armour against wind and water, a moist embrace for the roots that will soon stir beneath. A slow alchemy of decay and rebirth. Each of the three black stoneware tiers is slab-built, stacked like the stratified earth of an autumn forest floor, rich with unseen rhizomes. Textures and glazes shift subtly, weaving a tapestry of colour and contrast. The stoneware and smoked ash legs, sculpted by hand, deepen into a near-black brown, shot through with whispers of grey—echoing the bark and wild hues so beloved by Alexandre.

Symbolic of the turning seasons, the legs anchor the piece to the earth, offering life anew. Like roots, they mirror the familial bonds at the heart of Aude’s imaginings.