Alighieri unveils Alighieri CASA

Totem ; a natural object or animal that is believed by a particular society to have spiritual significance and that is adopted by it as an emblem.

Alighieri CASA is a collection of Modern Heirlooms for the home; an invitation to create your own universe and ritualistic practices. Inspired by ancient totems and prehistoric rock formations, the totemic devotion collection pays homage to the importance of daily spiritual rituals: from sharing stories by candlelight, to setting the table and breaking bread. From candlesticks, to tableware and cutlery suites, each piece is carved in wax and transformed into gold and silver-plated brass, through the ancient alchemy of sand casting.

Totemic devotion sees Alighieri’s signature molten texture come to life in floating silver pebbles alongside gold totem formations: foundations for flickering candlelight.

“When I first started Alighieri in 2014, I sat at my mother’s kitchen table with a roman candle, and began to carve imperfect formations into wax. These molten textures came to be our signature Modern Heirlooms. The lighting of the candle is an incredibly spiritual practice for me; as a child, I saw my grandparents light a candle to begin an Indian prayer ceremony; when I’m at work, it signifies the beginning of a new piece of jewellery; and at the end of the day, it marks the close of a chapter. I wanted to create our own Alighieri candlesticks to honour the importance of this practice, inviting you to build your own universe of totemic formations and spiritual practices.” - R.M

A debut suite of cutlery takes inspiration from tribal hunting tools, each handle carved in wax by founder Rosh Mahtani, before being sand-cast in brass and forged with stainless steel.

“I have often drawn parallels between food and jewellery, in the way that they are both a universal language: they both have a way of bringing people together, they’re both practices that honour the beauty of passing down stories through generations. In my family, my grandmother and mother showed their unbounding love through food. To this day, my mum will bring me a little packed lunch when she visits me at work: like a piece of jewellery, it feels like an offering. This debut cutlery suite is a project I’ve been working on for years; it’s incredibly special to be able to bring it to life, and to now bring people together at the table, through food, in my own way. Just like my family recipes, these Modern Heirlooms are designed to be passed down from one generation to the next.” - R.M.

Alighieri Casa will be available exclusively on alighieri.com and in the Alighieri showroom from the 16th July 2024.