Memphis Orinoco vase

Memphis Orinoco is a ceramic vase designed by Masanori Umeda for Memphis Milano, the iconic postmodern design collective, dating back to 1983. With its white stem and distinctive blue spheres at the base, Orinoco blends geometric elegance and chromatic playfulness with characteristic irreverence, embodying the provocative and unconventional spirit of the Memphis movement. Crafted from turned and hand-painted ceramic, this vase is both a decorative object and a collector's piece, standing 290 mm tall with a 180 mm base on each side.

The name Orinoco is far from accidental: Umeda draws inspiration from the great rivers of Latin America — the Orinoco and the Paranà — as symbols of power, movement and fluidity, translating them into sculptural forms that balance geometry with nature. The blue spheres at the base establish an explicit aesthetic link with Paranà, the ceramic fruit bowl by the same designer, reinforcing a visual coherence within the collection. Orinoco makes a refined and strikingly individual addition to the living room or any space that seeks to celebrate design as an art form — an object that, beneath its apparent simplicity, invites reflection on the relationship between artisan tradition and aesthetic innovation.