Our Philosophy

Travel.

We value life experience above all, and travel is our vehicle for that. We thrive on new experiences, especially those related to human culture. We’re anthropologists at heart, if not by training. Our deepest inspiration comes from meeting people of other cultures and learning about their values and passions.

Believe in the beauty of the everyday.

We’re drawn to material culture—considered, well-crafted objects used in everyday life. We gravitate to antique shops and flea markets in foreign countries because they‘re rich in the history of the local culture. Rather than a curated museum experience, you get to see and feel the grit of daily life through the ages. We value the household working tools and decoration of the lives of the non-elite.

Cherish the handmade and save dying arts.

Many crafts are quickly dying under the pressures of the Internet, globalization, mass production, and a disposable society. So, whether a craft has existed for a hundred years or a thousand, we seek it out. We love meandering through the stalls of small, local markets and speaking to craftspeople about their art. Then we work with those artisans to keep their work alive by bringing it to you.

Go and grow slowly.

We’ve always practiced “slow craft.” We wish to be a voice of thoughtful change in a fast-paced world of digital experience: to help people reconnect with the slow and meaningful process of true craftsmanship.

The things we own should last a lifetime.

Capitalism has taught us to continually “upgrade” our belongings and spaces. But this comes at a horrible price to people and the planet. We’re a part of the movement towards sustainable beauty, deep craft and natural materials. We prize long-term value over short-term costs. Handmade, high-quality objects that are made to last will be cherished far longer than the ever-changing aesthetics of throw away culture and fast fashion.

Learn from history and from each other.

We participate in ancient cultural, historical, and archaeological festivals because that’s where we find kindred spirits. At these festivals, we exchange ideas, techniques and the occasional brew. The designers and craftspeople we work with to produce our products have a passion for specific historical, regional and family crafts, such as hand weaving, basketry, birchbark boxes, glass blowing and smithing.

Together we are more.

There’s beauty in collaboration. A box maker and a smith can, together, make a chest that neither could make alone. An iron smelter and a bladesmith, working with a leatherworker, can make a knife and sheath that exquisitely complement each other. Each master artisan has a place in the process. This is true slow craft—make it together, not “do it yourself.”