Roman and Williams Guild

If “everyone is going to talk about...the martini in a Brutalist glass” at Marcel 945 Madison Avenue (as food writer Jeff Gordinier wrote), it’s not just because of the ice cold gin and olive brine. It’s the glass itself, handcrafted by Naoya Arakawa—one that “mirrors the Brutalist architecture of the Marcel Breuer building,” and one that is now back in stock at Roman and Williams Guild.

Featuring a floral, hand-crafted icchin drawing on its face, Naoki Asano’s dinnerware is a masterwork of pure porcelain marked by its subtly textured edges and milky, lustrous finish. The master Japanese ceramicist crafts every piece himself at his small studio in Kutani. The plates are individually wheel-thrown, sculpted, and finished entirely by hand.

There is a heft and a beauty to the Hyssop Bud Vase and Candleholder, each cast in white bronze, reinterpreting the hyssop flower as a singular Brutalist silhouette by hand. These Roman and Williams Guild Original Designs are now back in stock.

There is a summery ease and elagance to the Seamoor chair. Twisted and woven seagrass cradles and supports, breathes and gives. Tendril-like legs notch into the seat and arms in sinuous harmony. Curvilinear rounded arms embrace. The Seamoor is an innovation in seating— the heritages of weaving and woodworking unifiying seamlessly.

The Solna, a Roman and Williams Guild Original Design, is crafted by blowing molten glass directly into a metal ring, permanently joining the two materials. The chandelier option hangs from three handmade chains, each link individually soldered by hand. It is available in both pendant and chandelier, in clear, n**e, or opaque black glass and six metal finishes.

The Yarai Sasa Rocks Glass in burgundy. Crafted entirely by hand in Tokyo by the Shimizu Glass Corp.

At La Mercerie, Chef Heloïse Fischbach serves her grilled mackerel with endive and blood orange on RW Guild’s Kohyo Rinka plate with the bone flatware in sterling silver.

Some glasses just feel right in your hand. Shimizu Glass Co.’s glassware is a sterling example of Edo kiriko cut glass from masters of the ancient art form, who have been practicing it for more than 100 years. Meticulously engraved with interwoven, traditional Japanese motifs, each glass is crafted entirely by hand by a team of master glass-cutters in a small workshop in Tokyo. The glass’s intricate patterning features two timeless Japanese motifs: a band of “yarai” pattern around the rim representing crossed bamboos, and the “sasa” pattern evoking bamboo leaves, a symbol of good luck.

The Window on Marcel Entremet started with a question: what if Breuer’s Cyclops window could become something you could eat? The answer became an entremet of Tahitian vanilla mousse, milk jam, praline, and an Isomalt glass pane, molded in the same trapezoidal form that appears throughout the space. Nearby, the Marcel Credenza takes that geometry in another direction, translating it into faceted walnut surfaces that feel sharp, soft, and warm all at once. At Marcel, the architecture moves from facade to furniture to dessert.

The faceted geometry of the Marcel Credenza echoes throughout Marcel, from the dining room’s hand-carved walnut paneling to its stone steps. Inspired by the the Breuer building’s iconic facade, the credenza translates it into carved wood planes that form its doors and drawers, creating a rhythmic interplay of light and shadow. The result is a piece that feels both monumental and intimate.