First run of 12 · nine forms · made to order
586 grams of solid copper resting in carved walnut, darkening for months while you decide whether to polish it back.
Configuration
Spheres
Form
Two arms lifted to shoulder height, a third sphere cradled between them, all of it standing on an oval foot. The one that reads as sculpture from across a room.
Sphere material
| Form | Trefoil, ARKA III |
|---|---|
| Walnut | Solid, carved, hand-oiled |
| Dimensions | 170 × 175 × 70 mm, ± 3 mm |
| Spheres | 50 mm, one each in copper, steel, ceramic |
| Sphere mass | 586 g + 504 g + 157 g |
| Total mass | 1 547 g, approx. |
| Seats | 30 mm flat-bottom, 5 mm sink, felt-lined |
| Underside | Numbered, studio mark, four silicone feet |
| Made in | Poland |
| Ships | Within 6 weeks of order, shipping included |
The range
Price follows the bench, not the sphere count: a standing form with compound curves takes longer to carve than a long flat one, so it costs more even with fewer spheres. Every one of the nine is in the first run of 12 and every one ships in 6 weeks.
3 × 50 mm · from $499
Three spheres, three seats. Enough of them that the piece reads as an arrangement rather than an object with a ball on it.
$499
A flat rail rising and falling twice, with the middle sphere at the top of the wave and the outer two set down in the troughs.
One rail, three seats, no voids. The most efficient three-sphere form to make, which is why the III range opens here.
$589
A pointed oval with the middle cut out of it. Two spheres perch on the rim, one sits in the low point, and the void does the rest.
The void is the piece: it is cut, then the inside edge is carved to a rounded section all the way round so the opening has no flat face anywhere.
$699
Two arms lifted to shoulder height, a third sphere cradled between them, all of it standing on an oval foot. The one that reads as sculpture from across a room.
Three seats at three heights on a form that has to stay standing with 1.2 kg above its foot. The most carving, the most fitting and the most rejected blanks.
2 × 50 mm · from $399
Two spheres and the span between them. The mixed set starts here: one that changes, one that does not.
$399
One wave, two crests, a seat cut into each. The spheres sit at opposite ends of a curve that never repeats itself.
A single continuous S carved from a solid blank. No voids, no undercuts: the fastest two-sphere form, and the two-sphere entry price.
$459
A long bar pierced twice, spheres at the outer ends. The openwork under the bridge is where the light gets in.
Two long voids cut through solid walnut, then faired inside and out. The lightest form in the range and the easiest to split while cutting it.
$529
A hull that lifts at both ends, sitting on a plinth barely thicker than a card. The spheres ride the sweep at different heights.
A hollowed sweep on a separate plinth: two parts, cut from one board so the grain runs through both, then fitted. The only two-part form in the range.
1 × 50 mm · from $299
One sphere, held. The smallest complete version of the idea, and the one that fits on a windowsill.
$299
A low arch with the sphere sunk into its crown. The longest, flattest thing in the range: on a shelf it reads as a horizon with a weight on it.
One long arch, band-sawn and faired by hand. The least carving of the nine, which is why it is the entry price.
$359
A closed ellipse standing on end with the sphere resting in the bottom of the ring. It frames whatever is behind it, which is usually a wall.
A closed ring has an inside face, and an inside face has to be carved and sanded through the hole. That is most of the extra sixty dollars.
$429
A crescent rising off a splayed foot, holding the sphere at the height of the crescent's mouth. The smallest footprint and the most presence.
Compound curves in three directions and a foot thin enough to look wrong until you pick it up. The slowest single-sphere form to carve, and the most stock wasted.
Material
586 g at 50 mm · Solid copper, unlacquered
Darkens to a warm brown over months. Fingerprints show, then blend in. A cloth with lemon and salt takes it back to bright in a minute, or leave it alone and let it go dark.
504 g at 50 mm · Mirror-polished stainless steel
Does not change. Shows fingerprints at once and wipes clean with a dry cloth. A mirror sphere takes the colour of whatever room it sits in, so it is never quite the same twice.
157 g at 50 mm · Matte glazed stoneware, graphite
Does not change and does not mark. By far the lightest option, which you notice the moment you lift it: roughly a quarter of the copper.
Or take the mixed set on any two or three-sphere form: one sphere of each material in one piece, so one of them darkens, one records your fingerprints and one stays exactly as it arrived. It is what every II and III plate on this page is showing.
Under test for a later run
Frosted crystal
Frosted, never clear: a clear sphere focuses sunlight and starts fires.
Sterling silver
Solid, hallmarked, and it tarnishes faster than anything else here.
Gold-plated brass
Plated over solid brass. Solid gold at this size is 1.2 kg of gold.
Not for sale, no date, no waiting list. The first run is copper, steel and stoneware, because those three are the ones I can buy, seat and ship today.
In a room
Made to order
You order, and choose the form and the spheres. The seat geometry is fixed across all nine; everything else is the choice.
The walnut is cut and carved at a local joinery, then sanded through four grits and hand-oiled over three days.
Seats are cut to 30 mm, felt-lined, and fitted to your spheres one at a time, because a seat that fits loosely looks like a mistake.
Numbered on the underside, photographed, double-boxed and shipped. Within 6 weeks of the order.
This started as a render I could not stop looking at. I wanted one on my own shelf, could not buy it anywhere, and found that the hard part was not the shape but the seat.
The seat is the whole engineering problem, and it is identical on all nine forms. A 30 mm flat-bottom seat holds a 50 mm sphere at a contact angle of 36.9°, so a seat cut into a face that slopes up to 26° keeps about 11° of margin before the sphere can climb out. Cut it shallower and it looks like a dent. Cut it deeper and the sphere sinks into the wood. Everything else on this page is taste; that number is not.
Before you order
Every picture here is a render. Nothing on this page is a photograph of an object that exists yet.
There is one render per form, not one per combination. The one-sphere forms are shown in copper and the rest as the mixed set. Choosing steel changes the spheres you receive; it does not change the picture, and the plate says so when they disagree.
The turntable is a different model from the plates. Enlarging a form lets you turn it, and those frames are rendered from the shop drawing the pieces are actually cut from, not from the picture beside them. The proportions are the ones being built; the surface detail is not as finished as the plate. It is there to show you the back, which no still can.
The first run is 12 pieces across all nine forms. Not a marketing number: it is how many I can finish properly at once. When they are gone the links come down until the next run.
You are paying before it is built. That is what a pre-order is. The money buys walnut and spheres. Waiting for photographs of finished pieces instead is the sensible thing to do, and the price will not be lower later.
Refund any time before shipping. One email, no reason needed, no fee. After it arrives you still have the EU's 14 days.
What is not settled: the exact walnut stock for each piece, so grain will differ between them, and the final packaging print. Dimensions may move by up to 3 mm. Anything that changes materially before your piece ships, I will write and tell you.
Questions
Because the first pieces are being made now. The forms, the seats and the materials are settled; the photographs are not. You get real photographs of your own piece, with its number, before it is packed, and you can cancel for a full refund at that point if it is not what you expected.
Because you are paying for the carving, not for the spheres. Chalice is one sphere on a standing foot with compound curves in three directions and takes longer at the bench than Meander, which is two spheres on a single wave. The spheres are the cheap part: a 50 mm copper ball is bought in. The wood and the hours are not.
A 50 mm clear glass sphere is a working lens. It focuses sunlight to a point about a centimetre behind itself, which on a sunny windowsill is enough to scorch wood, and glass spheres have started house fires. So ARKA has no clear glass option and never will. The matte stoneware sphere gives the pale, non-metallic version without the lens.
No. Unlacquered copper darkens to a warm brown over months and takes fingerprints in the meantime. That is the material behaving normally, not a defect. A cloth with lemon and salt brings it back to bright in a minute. Steel and stoneware do not change.
Yes. Each sits in a 30 mm flat-bottom seat, sunk 5 mm and lined with felt, so it stays put on a level surface and lifts out with your fingers. A 586 g sphere will dent a hard floor, so this is not an object for a shelf above a cot. It is not a toy and it is not for children under three.
Anywhere in the EU and EEA, plus the UK, Switzerland, Norway, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Singapore. Shipping is included in the price. Outside the EU you may owe import duty or local VAT on arrival, which is yours to pay: we cannot pre-pay it and we do not under-declare parcels.
Any time before your piece ships, for any reason: full refund, nothing to explain. After delivery you have the EU's statutory 14 days to withdraw, and you cover return postage on a 2 to 3 kg parcel. Write to [email protected] and a person answers, because there is only one.
Urbano DX, a one-person studio in Poland. The walnut is cut and carved by a joinery nearby, the spheres are bought in, and the finishing, seat-fitting, numbering and packing are done by hand by me. The first run is 12 pieces because that is what one pair of hands can make properly at once.