Mammoth Tusk Teaset

Apple Computer designer Marc Newson recently unveiled a mammoth-ivory tea set for Georg Jensen, a Danish metalware brand.

The $120,000 five-piece hammered silver tea pot, coffee server, creamer, sugar bowl and tray are being created as a limited edition offering available to just 10 buyers.

Newson, an Australian industrial designer based in London, is known for his unique furniture, but has also designed a limited edition samurai sword, a retractable fountain pen for Hermès, the interiors of Quantas Airliners and airport lounges around the world.

The “responsibly sourced” ivory forms the handles and a pill-shaped knob operates the half-moon shaped opening in the tea and coffee pots. The finished work is from a computer assisted 3D prototype and hammered by hand in a Copenhagen shop.

“Who else but Marc could bring to this domestic, modest and functional family of tea related objects the gravitas, the feeling of universality, the harmony of domesticity and ceremony?” asked Georg Jensen CEO David Chu, noting both Newson and Georg Jensen began their careers as sculptors. “Marc Newson was, for me, really the only choice.”

Dan is an editor and publisher, a podcaster, blogger, and beverage retail consultant. He is a frequent speaker at industry seminars and conferences (virtual and in-person). Dan was the first editor and publisher at World Tea News and has worked as editor and publisher of Tea Magazine and managing editor of STiR coffee and tea. His work appears online and in many magazines. In 2016 he organized the collaborative group of tea journalists and experts who founded Tea Journey magazine and in 2021 launched the Tea Biz podcast. He began his publications career in 1974 as a newspaper reporter.