After a decade as Dinosaur Designs’ head of retail and visual merchandising, Corey Ashford launched his own studio to make a range of lifestyle products by hand.
He first released a series of mirror-like, hand-sculptured brass cocktail coasters in shapes inspired by spills. To make them, he sculpted the shapes in clay, then poured over molten brass. He also made linen beach throws and frayed linen napkins dyed and sewn by hand in Melbourne.
Now the Melbourne-based designer follows up with four incense scents created in collaboration with one of Japan’s oldest incense ateliers. “Holiday House evokes the scent of coastal floorboards warmed by summer sunshine, and Citrus Grove is abundant with the juicy scent of bursting citrus fruits,” he says.
In addition, Supper Club hints at wood and apricot, while the moodiest of the four, Studio, is reminiscent of charcoal and leather.
To hold the sticks, Ashford has created the cutest addition to his collection: brass oyster holders, which have been cast from a real shell. At one end of the tiny dish is a hole to slide in the stick, which Ashford says is perfectly placed so the shell catches the falling incense residue.
The big question is: did he use Sydney rock oysters or Pacific to design them? “Sydney rock oysters,” he says. “I’m originally from Sydney, so couldn’t have done anything else.”
But they aren’t only good for incense. “Whether used as an incense holder, a delicate jewellery dish or for spice on the table, let it be an aspirational reminder that the world is your oyster.”
