Four centuries of experience and constant experimentation watermark the ornamental porcelain that the Netherlands’ Royal Tichelaar Makkum handcrafts from local Fysian clay. The factory has been on explorers’ maps since 1572, where it has accumulated vast knowledge in the making of everything from glazed tiles to filigreed vases and delicate restoration work, using now-rare production processes. Even in avant-garde design, age-old techniques have a powerful place: Tichelaar still uses the nearly lost majolica technique not only to craft classic Delftware but also objects by wholly modern designers like Hella Jongerius and Job Smeets. In 2007, when Tichelaar tapped Dick van Hoff, the designer asked whether traditional techniques could produce products relevant today; the Work series answers its own question. Five desk accessories, hybrids of wood and stoneware, are made practical only through their clever wooden tendons, joints that transform the earthenware from an exclusive ornament into extraordinary equipment for every day.