Rob & Jaap Thalen

Thalen & Thalen

Silversmith

©Thalen & Thalen

Passionate about pure silver

Rob and Jaap make objects in pure silver 999/000
Their work is intended to last, in contrast to today's throwaway culture
They try to imbue their silver creations with passion and personality

Father and son Rob and Jaap Thalen opened their workshop Thalen & Thalen in 2006. Rob had studied silversmithing and trained as a bronze sculptor. He started working as a sculptor in the Netherlands in 1982, exhibiting all over Europe. His son Jaap studied architecture, but soon realised he didn’t want to work in an office all his life. After much consideration, the pair decided to apply their talents to relaunching silversmithing as an art form. “Our quest started from a feeling that we wanted to be surrounded by objects that guide us and inject enjoyment into our lives.”

Interview

Why did you choose to specialise in silver?: To us, silver is more than a means of creating shapes. To us, silver is the ultimate way of creating shapes. We translate our love for silver, and particularly fine silver, into creations that reflect our passion and personalities.
What makes silver such a special material?: There are thousands of reasons why you should choose silver, starting with its tactile properties. Silver is a material that needs to be experienced. Why should you drink your espresso from a paper cup if you can drink it from a fine silver cup?
What are your guiding principles?: Pure' is one of the words we are guided by: purity in the material and in the form of expression. We look for simple shapes in the right proportions, which can be very small or, indeed, very large, but always awe-inspiring and created from the purest and finest silver.
How do you approach silver?: We always look for ways of creating our works from a single piece of silver, avoiding joints unless absolutely necessary. It is a challenge to explore the material and discover the boundaries of what’s possible. When we reach those limits, we show them, out of respect for that material.

Rob & Jaap Thalen are master artisans: they began their career in 1984 and they started teaching in 2015