The making of
Ray and TAY
The thinking behind
THE RAY COLLECTION
The Ray started with a question about surface. The idea was to create a handle where the lines curve and intertwine - double curves, smooth arcs, and a particular attention to how the handle connects to the wall. The side legs have a slightly squashed quality, which came directly from the prototyping process: attaching a model to the wall with modelling clay, and keeping what that pressure did to the form. The inward curve of the handle itself creates a subtle interplay of light and shadow when it's installed.
The name came later. Someone on the product team noticed it looked like a stingray - and the Spanish word mantarraya, stuck. There's something else in there too: the clean lines and that particular plasticity have a 1950s quality to them, a nod to the bodywork of cars like the Chevrolet Bel Air.
The beginnings of
THE TAY
Tay started somewhere different - with brass itself. The organic, doughnut-like forms that run across the collection are a way of exploring what brass can do: its reflectivity, its lustre, the way it shifts as the light moves around it. The almost continuous, looped nature of the forms gives them a lightness, while the variation in their surface means they age well. The Tay doughnut has become something of a design signature for us, appearing across hooks, knobs and rails as a way of seeing how far a single idea can travel.
Two new shapes
Ray Handles
After surface came the question of: what if the fixing disappeared entirely? No visible screws, nothing to interrupt the face of the drawer. Just the handle itself.
The Ray Handle is a smooth arc - clean from end to end, with a subtle inward curve. It can go vertically or horizontally, works on a painted kitchen cabinet as well as a bedroom chest, and comes in two sizes.
The Cup Handle took the same idea somewhere different. Rather than a line, it's a form - broad and domed, sitting flush to the drawer front. More solid in the hand than it looks from a distance, and more sculptural than your average cup pull. The fixings are hidden here too.
Two new additions
TAY KNOB AND HOOKS
The Tay Hook is front-mounted and spin-to-secure - no awkward access, no back-wall fixings, simply position and turn. The ribbed roundel detail that runs across the collection sits at its base, giving it an immediate solidity in the hand.
The Knob takes that same form and distils it. Compact, rounded and surprisingly weighty - the smallest piece in the family, with the same character as the rest.
Shop the Collection
RAY AND TAY
Tay Knob, Blackened Bronze
Ray Handle, Polished Nickel
Tay Knob, Polished Brass
Behind the scenes
Shooting the collection
We shot the new Ray collection and the latest additions to the Tay family at a house in West Wittering, right by the sea. It was the middle of a storm. The fires were going the whole time just to keep everyone warm. We were there for one room in particular: a yellow pantry. Wide stacks of shelves, plenty of surface to work with, and a warmth to the space that made it the natural home for the new hardware.
